Fighting the Inevitable
by Ginger-bread88
Summary: AU. 8 years later and Alex is once again thrust into Piper's life. Piper tries to convince herself that Alex is the same woman she left behind in Paris, while Alex is determined not to let Piper get close again. But even while planning her wedding Piper just can't seem to stay away from Alex Vause. Vauseman/Pipex. The characters are not my own.
1. Chapter 1

Piper stood on the sidewalk staring at the building in front of her. The slight breeze in the air blew strands of her blonde hair across her face, with a shaking hand Piper pushed the intruding strands behind her ear. Piper inhaled deeply then slowly let the breath out through her mouth, her tongue snaked out to moisten her dry lips. To say the blonde was feeling nervous was an understatement. Piper read the letters printed in frosted lettering across the building's windows,

"New Chapter" she murmured.

Piper nodded her head; she hoped that the store's name was going to be a good omen for her. She hoped that when she finally gathered enough confidence to finally walk through the door in front of her that she would be walking into a new chapter of her life, one with a job by the time she left the building. Piper inhaled deeply one more time, straightened her shoulders, lifted her head high then strode confidently towards the stores entrance. As Piper opened the door in front of her a bell rang overhead letting the occupants inside know that they had a visitor. Piper stood in the doorway of the building and looked around her, to her right there were row upon row of shelves stacked with books, Piper smiled dreamily at the sight and walked further into the building gravitating towards the rows of books. A loud clash drew Piper's attention away from the books to look to the left side of the building. This area was busier with what appeared to be a Café, people sat at table and chair sets while others lounged on worn, brown leather couches that were pushed under the building's windows with wooden coffee tables placed in front of them, newspapers littering the surfaces. Piper smiled happily at her surroundings, she could tell that New Chapter was going to be a new favourite of hers; a place where she could browse and buy books as well has sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. Heaven!

"Like what you see?" A voice suddenly asked from beside Piper. Piper jumped at the sound and quickly raised her hand to her chest and placed it over her rapidly beating heart. "Oh my god, you scared me" Piper gasped while turning her head to see who had snuck up on her and interrupted her moment. Piper was greeted by a short, blonde haired woman, who to Piper, looked like she had stuck her finger in a power outlet and decided that the just electrocuted look was for her. The woman laughed at Piper. "Sorry bout that Blondie, couldn't help myself" Piper smiled tightly and nodded, the nickname that the shorter woman called her grating on Piper's nerves.

"So how can I help you?" The woman asked while raking her eyes over Piper's calf length black skirt and white blouse and raising her eyebrows at the taller blonde's attire. "Do you work here?" Piper asked feeling slightly confused. The woman laughed at Piper again then grinned widely. "Yup" she answered.

Piper straightened her appearance and smiled at the shorter woman with the shock of wild blonde hair. "I'm here for a job interview with a Miss…" "That's with me" the woman interrupted and walked pass Piper towards the café section of the building. "You coming or what Blondie?" The woman asked over her shoulder.

Piper hurriedly followed the shorter woman, her heels clicking on the hard wood floor has she walked. "You're Miss Nichols?" Piper asked. The woman laughed and sat down at one of the free tables. "The names Nicky, take a pew" Nicky said gesturing to the chair across the table from her.

Feeling slighted flustered by the shorter woman and a little unprepared, Piper quickly sat down in the chair indicated for her. The two blondes sat across from each other staring at the other for a few seconds, Piper swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat and nervously pushed her hair behind her ears while Nicky slouched back in her seat grinning widely at Piper. "Piper Chapman, right?" Nicky eventually asked. Piper nodded and stuck her right hand out across the table for Nicky to shake. "Yes, I'm Piper" Piper answered. Nicky stared at Piper's outstretched hand and broke into loud laughter. "Fuck! Ease up Blondie, I'm not gonna bite you" Nicky laughed.

Piper winced in her seat at Nicky's words and pulled her hand back towards her body. "So Blondie" Nicky said, once again smiling at Piper as she noticed the small grimace that flashed across Piper's face at the nickname. "Your resume says you have experience in a managerial role before and that you've also ran your own business?" Nicky asked with a slight frown. "Yes to both, I ran a business called Popi with my best friend". Nicky shrugged, "So what happed to Popi?" Piper sighed. "Well Polly, my best friend" Piper clarified, "decided she wanted to start a family and grew bored of the business, she made the products while I managed the business side of things, so without Polly there was no Popi. We were going to be in Barneys" Piper said proudly. "Wow. Shitty friend" Nicky stated.

Piper frowned at this but quickly decided that it would be best not to try and defend her best friends actions while in an interview for a possible new job, instead she smiled tightly in what she hoped came across as agreement. Suddenly Nicky lurched forward from her slouched position to place her elbows on the table, Piper quickly jerked back as Nicky came closer to her face. "When can you start?" Nicky asked surprising Piper. Piper's eyebrows shot up to her hairline and her mouth opened and closed trying to form some sort of words, Piper cleared her throat and placed her right hand flat on the tables surface. "Excuse me?" Piper asked. "When can you start?" Nicky repeated "Look Chapman I'm not gonna lie to you, you're the most qualified person I've interviewed for the manager's job and trust me you couldn't possibly be any worse than the dimwit, fucking Jesus freak that had the job before you. She was fucking crazy, but the Boss lady likes to give everyone a chance. But right now I'm in charge of finding the next person to fill the role and all I want to do is get back behind that counter…" Nicky nodded in the direction of a long wooden counter where a handful of people were queuing "… and serve some coffee and food and not have to pretend I give a fuck if you think you'll be "A positive addition to the New Chapter team"" Nicky said in a mocking voice, "So when can you start?" Piper looked at Nicky like she had grown another head and blinked rapidly. "To… tomorrow?" Piper asked unsurely. "Great!" Nicky practically shouted while slapping her hands onto the table, a huge grin plastered on her face. "I'll do some of your paperwork tonight and give it to the Boss in the morning cos she's off today; you can go over your contract and shit with her then. We open at eight so be here for seven thirty AM. Fetch your bank details and anything else you think you'll need" Nicky said clearly growing bored now that the interview was over. "Ok" Piper replied. The two women stood from their chairs, Piper went to shake Nicky's hand again but quickly realised what she was doing and held her arms by her sides. Nicky nodded and smiled at Piper "Welcome to New Chapter Blondie" she said then walked away towards the serving counter leaving Piper standing by herself.

_What the fuck have I got myself into?_ Piper thought has she watched the shorter woman walk away.

XXX

Piper walked into the apartment that she shared with her fiancé and shut the door behind her while dropping her keys into a bowl that was placed on a table near the front door. She kicked off her heels and headed towards the room they classed as the office knowing Larry would be there, Piper stood in the doorway and watched Larry as he clicked through images on Google. "Busy day?" Piper sighed wearily. Larry guilty closed the tabs on his computer and swivelled around in his desk chair to face Piper. "Hey Sweetie, I didn't hear you come in. How did the interview go?" Larry asked hoping that Piper wouldn't ask if he had done any writing that day. Piper inhaled deeply and frowned, "It was surreal" she answered. "How's the writing going?" She asked her fiancé. Larry nodded slowly, "It's coming along", which Piper knew meant he hadn't wrote a single word and had probably spent the day sending his friends silly emails or playing online games. "When will you hear if you were successful?" Larry asked. "I got the job" Piper replied with a smile. "Sweetie! That's fucking amazing!" Larry exclaimed and pushed out of his desk chair to pull Piper into a tight hug; Larry kissed Piper quickly then leaned back from the embrace. "When do you start?" he asked excitedly which made Piper's excitement at starting a new job increase. "Tomorrow", "Wow". "Yeah I know, Larry it was the weirdest fucking interview ever but I just know I'm going to love it there and at least now we'll have one steady income and won't have to ask our parents for rent money anymore" Piper said excitedly. Larry looked at Piper and grinned "and now I'll be able to afford my tux for our wedding" he laughed making Piper smile widely. "This couldn't have happened at a better time" Larry said as Piper nodded in agreement.

XXX

At seven fifteen AM Piper was once again stood in the middle of the sidewalk outside New Chapter, thankfully this time Piper didn't feel nervous. As Piper entered the store the bell over the door signalled her arrival, drawing the attention of the four women that were sat at the café counter drinking from mugs. "Hey guys, this is Chapman the new manager" Nicky said from her position sitting on top of the counter. Piper smiled and headed towards the group of women. "You're eager Blondie" Nicky said as she looked at the large brass clock that was mounted to the café's wall. "I wanted to meet everyone and get the paperwork filled in" Piper replied. "Cool, well here's some of the gang" Nicky said gesturing to the three women sat around her.

Nicky pointed her mug towards a young African American, with a buzz cut who was currently glaring at Piper. "Poussey Washington". The woman raised her chin in greeting. "Hi Poussey" Piper said nervously. "Poussey works with the books, that's her area" Nicky said while Piper nodded in acknowledgment.

"And over here we've got Yoga Jones who works in the café with me but also teaches some of the night classes…" "Wait, night classes?" Piper asked confused. "Oh yea, I forgot to mention that part" Nicky admitted "the Boss will go through all of that with you anyways" Nicky added dismissively. Piper blinked in surprise at Nicky's lack of information during the interview, not knowing what to say to the new information she had just accidently received Piper looked at the woman known has Yoga Jones and smiled while holding out her hand, "Hello, I'm Piper" "Nice to meet you Piper" Yoga Jones replied while shaking Piper's hand.

"And this little lady" Nicky continued while shaking a small brunette by the shoulder, "Is Morello, who also works in the café with me" "Hey Chapman, I'm Lorna. Welcome to New Chapter". Piper genuinely smiled for the first time that morning at Lorna's friendly nature. "There's also Taystee who works in the book section with Poussey, but she won't show her face until a minute before eight and there's also Crazy eyes" Nicky added. "Cr…cr…Crazy eyes?" Piper stuttered. The group of women around Piper laughed good naturedly. "Yea, she's harmless. Just don't piss her off or touch her cleaner stuff without asking" Poussey answered. "Oh okay" Piper replied with a frown on her face.

"Right introductions done, now it's time to meet the Boss" Nicky said while jumping off of the counter that she was sitting on. "It was nice meeting you" Piper said to her new colleagues as Nicky walked out of the café area. Piper quickly followed the shorter woman through the stacks of shelves loaded with books, towards a dark wooden door with **STAFF ONLY** printed on the front in white bold letters. "It's early so she might be grumpy, fuck that she will definitely be grumpy but ignore her" Nicky laughed as she opened the door and held it open for Piper to walk through. As Piper entered the hallway behind the door she took in her surroundings, to her left hand side Piper glanced at what appeared to be the staff room which housed a seating area with a flat screened TV mounted on the wall. To her right was a closed door with the words **STOCKROOM** printed in white lettering across it, Nicky continued to walk down the hallway. "Toilets" Nicky said pointing to another door on Piper's left side, "Cleaner's closet, do not go in there unless you've spoken to Crazy eyes first" Nicky warned while gesturing to a door on Piper's right. Piper nodded quickly showing she had understood Nicky. Nicky pointed to the last door on Piper's right that was next to the cleaner's closet "Your office" she stated "Annnnd the Boss's office" Nicky said while coming to a standstill outside of a door directly across from what was apparently Piper's office door. Nicky raised her hand and pounded on the door in front of her "It's the police mother fucker" she yelled has her hand repeatedly banged on the door. Piper stood and stared at Nicky wide eyed in shock.

_Did she really just call her boss a mother fucker?_ Piper internally screamed.

Nicky burst into laughter at Piper's shocked expression. "You need to lighten up Blondie" Nicky laughed while swinging the door open. "Yo bitch tits, the new managers here and here's the shit she filled in before the interview and also some paperwork I managed to get done last night" Piper heard Nicky explain to whoever was in the room with her while she stood outside of the door not knowing if she should enter the room with Nicky. "Get your ass in here Blondie" Nicky shouted dragging Piper out of her shocked daze.

Piper warily entered the room; she quickly glanced at Nicky who was stood beside a black glass desk that was placed in the middle of the room, and then finally looked at the figure that was sat behind the desk. Piper's heart felt like it stopped beating in her chest as her eyes gazed into sparkling, green irises that were looking back at her from behind black framed glasses. Her breakfast swirled in her stomach as she took in long black locks, blood red lips and pale white skin. Piper's palms grew moist as her breath escalated, her mouth hanged open as she openly stared at the figure sat in front of her behind the office desk. The blood in her body rushed to her ears making them buzz loudly, Piper couldn't tear her eyes away from those that held her gaze. "Chapman this is…"

"Alex" Piper whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

_Piper Fucking Chapman. _Alex thought as she leaned back in her chair after the woman Nicky had been shouting at finally entered her office. Her heart jumped erratically in her chest as Piper turned her head to look at her, Alex tensed her jaw and flared her nostrils as Piper whispered her name, "Alex". Alex winced at the emotion behind the whispered word and moved her hands to grasp at the arm rests of her chair, Alex sat in her desk chair clenching and unclenching her hands on the chair's arm rests, trying to gain some control of the feelings swirling inside of her, as Piper continued to stare at her.

_What the fuck! This cannot be happening! _Alex internally screamed while on the outside she kept her expression blank, cold even. "You two know each other?" Nicky asked while turning her head from side to side like she was at a tennis match, trying to figure out what was going down between the two women in front of her who had yet to take their eyes off of each other and acknowledge her existence. Alex inhaled discreetly through her nose and gritted her teeth to the point of physical pain, but Alex would take the physical pain any day over the emotional pain she had felt over the blonde now standing in front of her. Alex slowly raked her eyes over Piper taking in every little detail of the younger woman, same blonde hair only cut shorter, same baby blue eyes that were looking straight at her with awe and a black business suit with a pale pink blouse underneath the jacket that fit the blonde to perfection greeted Alex. As Alex continued to skim her eyes over Piper she suddenly stiffened in her seat as her eyes landed on a small sparkling object on the blonde's left hand.

_ENGAGED! _The word rang in Alex's mind, anger swiftly built in her chest as she looked at the mocking object on Piper's finger. She wanted to scream, throw something, punch someone, anyone! Piper yanked her hand guiltily behind her back as she noticed where Alex was looking causing Alex to snap her eyes to look back into Piper's. _Piper Fucking Chapman. _The name once again raged through Alex's thoughts but anyone looking at the raven haired beauty would never have guessed that she was fighting an emotional internal battle, on the surface she was the picture of calm and collected.

"Take a seat Chapman" Alex said in a clear, demanding tone while indicating with her hand one of the black leather chairs that occupied the front of her desk. As Piper quickly sat down in the chair she continued to stare at Alex with an awestruck impression, Alex finally turned her head to look at Nicky who stood there with an amused smirk on her face. "So you two DO know each other" Nicky stated. Alex raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her friend, "You can go now Nichols" Alex said. Nicky grinned amusedly at Alex then glanced at Piper who now looked like she had seen a ghost; Nicky held her hands up and started to back away from Alex's desk and towards the office door. "Sure thing Boss" Nicky replied, determined to find out at a later time exactly how Piper and Alex knew each other, if there was one thing Nicky Nichols could spot from a mile away it was dyke drama and Alex's office was currently suffocating in it.

Once Nicky shut Alex's office door behind her Alex turned her gaze back to the blonde sat across from her, the two women sat for a few seconds each trying to gain control of their emotions as they stared at each other. As Alex looked into Piper's big blue eyes the old familiar feeling of comfort, calmness and belonging started to envelope her like a warm embrace. _NO! _Alex's mind snapped and dragged her eyes away from peering into Piper's. _There is no way I'm gonna be drawn back in by those fucking bambi eyes! _Alex thought and reached for the file that Nicky had thrown on her desk when she entered and began to read the paperwork inside that Nicky had already filled in.

"Piper Chapman" Alex said as she continued to look down at the file not noticing the way Piper's body shuddered in her seat at Alex saying her name in her deep, husky voice. "Nichols appears to have actually pulled her head out of her ass and filled in most of your paperwork which is a surprise" Alex said and closed the file that she held in her hands. "I just need to go over what I expect you to do as the manager of New Chapter" Alex continued as she once again looked into Piper's eyes. "I…I still have the job?" Piper croaked out in a surprised voice. Alex blinked in surprise at the question and raised her eyebrows, "Of course, when Nichols told me that she had hired a "Blondie" she said you were the most qualified that she had interviewed. I trust Nicky completely, so yea you still have a job. Nothing has changed" Alex stated, the words repeating in her head like a mantra, _nothing has changed, nothing has changed_, she silently reassured herself. Piper nodded and smiled softly at the news. "So I know you would have already gone over the hours that you will work and…" Alex was interrupted by Piper raising her hand from her lap like a kid in school asking permission to speak, Piper nibbled on her bottom lip nervously worried that what she was she was about to say would get Nicky into trouble, Alex's eyes dropped to Piper's mouth as the blonde continued to pull at her bottom lip with her teeth. Even though the older woman didn't want to be affected by Piper, the lip biting that the blonde was currently doing made most of the blood in Alex's body head south and settle between her legs. _Fuck_, Alex thought and reluctantly pulled her gaze away from Piper's mouth and back to her eyes when the younger woman started to speak. . "Actually I don't know anything" Piper admitted shyly. Alex frowned and shook her head in confusion. "What did Nichols tell you about the job?" she asked. "That I had it" Piper answered. Alex sighed wearily, pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and fore finger and closed her eyes. _You're a pain in my ass Nichols,_ Alex thought grumpily. Alex snapped open her green eyes and looked at Piper; she brought her arms to rest on her chair arms and sighed. "We open at eight AM but as the manager you start at seven" Alex started to say in a professional manner. Alex watched as Piper nodded her head in acknowledgement and frowned, the blonde had a glazed look in her eyes and Alex was pretty certain that the younger woman wasn't really listening to what she has said but decided to continue in case she was mistaken. "Closing time is five thirty PM, but on Thursday's we close at four PM". Piper shook her head at this, "Why?" she questioned. "We just do" Alex replied not caring to elaborate, "We open on a Saturday, but we don't open the doors until eight thirty AM and close at three thirty PM". Alex bent down in her chair and opened the bottom draw of her desk; she pulled out a sheet of white paper and handed it over the desk to Piper with a surprisingly steady hand. "Here are the opening times, just in case you forget" Alex said and watched intently as Piper's hand shook with a slight tremor as she reached out and took the piece of paper from Alex's grasp. _Interesting,_ Alex thought as she leaned back in her chair.

"Usually I'll already be here by the time you arrive but for when I'm off work or away here's your set of keys to the store" Alex said while reaching into her front pocket and pulling out a set of keys, she flung the set over the desk towards Piper who quickly shot out her hand to catch the keys before they hit her. "Is there an alarm system?" Piper asked as she placed the keys into her jacket pocket. Alex nodded, she reached across her desk for a post it pad and grabbed a pen. She began to write down the code for the alarm system but suddenly stopped writing when she reached the third digit. _Fuck! _ Alex thought, the dark haired woman always used the date that she and Piper had first met for her alarm codes; it was a date that she always remembered without any trouble. Alex inhaled shakily then continued to write down the alarm code for Piper, when she had finished she ripped off the top piece of paper from the post it pad and reluctantly held her hand out for Piper to take. "Here. When you have it memorised rip it up and throw it in the bin". Piper took the post it from Alex and read the numbers written on its surface, Alex nervously fiddled with her glasses as Piper continued to look at the post it in her hand. Suddenly Piper looked up and locked eyes with Alex's, her mouth shaped in an O, a variety of emotions swimming in her blue eyes. Piper stretched out her hand towards Alex offering the post it back to the older woman, Alex frowned in confusion but took the piece of paper out of Piper's grip. "I remember it" Piper said quietly, Alex ran her tongue along her bottom teeth and nodded. She scrunched up the post it in her hand and threw it into a nearby waste basket. "Ok" Alex said her eyes fixed on Piper's; she watched has Piper blinked slowly and licked her lips while staring at Alex. "Ok" Alex repeated and cleared her throat, "On Monday and Thursday lunch times we host a baby book club" Alex explained to Piper, who nodded in reply. "Parents fetched their kids and use the All Sorts room to sing and play as a group…" "All Sorts room?" Piper asked confused. Alex sighed, "Fucking Nichols" she muttered and stood up from her chair. "Follow me" Alex ordered as she walked around her desk and strode out of her office, the dark haired woman sauntered down the hallway to the wooden door that led into the store without looking back to see if Piper had in fact followed her. When Alex reached the door she opened it and waited, she held the door open for Piper who was right behind her. As Piper went to walk past Alex into the store the older woman inhaled deeply, pulling into her lungs the vanilla scent that was Piper, she quickly stepped back has far as the door would allow her so her body didn't come into contact with the blondes. "Thanks" Piper said as she stepped into the store. Alex nodded in reply as she closed the door behind them; she walked through the maze of shelves and headed towards the far wall of the store with Piper hot on her heels. "Nichols you're fired" Alex grumbled loudly as she passed by the café making Nicky laugh and yell back "Yea, yea Vause". Alex led Piper to a door that was discreetly tucked away to the side of the café counter, the door was hard to spot if a person hadn't been shown where it was and could easily be mistaken for a stockroom, but when Alex opened the door and ushered Piper inside the younger woman's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "Oh" Piper whispered, Alex smiled at Piper's reaction and looked around the room. The All Sorts room looked like it belonged in a school, rows of desks were lined in the middle of the room with plastic chairs pushed underneath them, a projector hung from the ceiling with a white board mounted on the wall opposite it and waist high storage units were placed around the edges of the room. Piper pointed to the storage units, "What's in the units?" she asked intrigued. "Soft mats and toys for baby book club, also pens, workbooks, yoga mats, basically anything needed for the night classes" Alex answered. Piper nodded "Nicky forgot to mention the night classes during my interview" She confessed with a shy smile. Alex chuckled and shook her head. "The staff organises and teach the classes, the classes are free but some pay a small donation even though we don't ask for it. Currently Yoga Jones teaches Yoga" Alex said with a shrug and walked over to one of the desks and sat down on top of it while folded her arms over her chest. "Taystee teaches a money management class, Morello does a dance/drama class with Crazy eyes…" "Who is this Crazy eyes?" Piper asked nervously. "Her names Suzanne, she cleans the store" Alex explained and left it at that, "Also Miller from one of my other businesses comes here and teaches a IT course which is really fucking popular, most of the people that come to the classes can't afford their own computers and shit so in your office there's a cupboard with some laptops in" Piper nodded and inhaled quickly at the information over load she was experiencing. "The staff teaches voluntarily in their own time and will come to you if they want to start any new classes. You'll obviously manage who can use the room on what nights but I do have one rule, there are no classes on a Thursday or Saturday night" Alex warned and watched as Piper frowned at this news. "Wait" Piper said as something Alex had previously said clicked in her brain, "You own other businesses?" she asked slightly astounded. Alex nodded and unfolded her arms from her chest, "Which reminds me I need to make your employee discount card, you get a 30% discount in all of my other establishments. I'll give you a list of the places when I give you your discount card later". Piper's eyes widened in shock "Am I… I mean… Am I the manager for the other places as well or…", "No" Alex chuckled amusedly at Piper's expression "Just here, but you may come into contact with my other employees if they want to use this room" she added. "Okay… that's erm ok" Piper said in relief. "Overwhelmed?" Alex asked with a smug smile on her face, Piper straightened her shoulders and raised her chin defiantly at Alex. "No, it's just a lot to take in all at once" she replied. Alex nodded at this and stood up from the desk that she was sat on and headed for the door "It's pretty easy once you get into the swing of things" Alex admitted. The taller woman walked through the open door and into the store, this time Piper fell into step beside Alex as they walked pass the café towards the shelves of books then to the **STAFF ONLY** door. "If you need help just ask, I don't expect you to understand everything right away" Alex said as she opened the door and walked into the hallway behind. "Thank you" Piper said as the duo walked down the hallway towards Alex's office, when they entered the office Alex walked round her desk and sat in her chair while Piper occupied the seat that she had previously vacated. "I'm in my office most days but if I'm not you can reach me by phone or email; my details are on your copy of your employee paperwork. Now I just need to read over your contract and sign it, if you could have it done by the end of the day that would be great" Alex encouraged as she flipped open the file with Piper's paper work inside and signed her name to the documents, when she had finished she handed over the files to Piper and sat back in her chair. "Is there anything else you want to know?" Alex asked, the raven haired woman was silently congratulating herself on how professional she was been with the blonde, no emotions were showing through her mask even though she felt tidal waves of emotions from being in the blondes presence again. Piper played with the file in her hands, she raised one hand and pushed her hair behind her ear and swallowed loudly. "How are you?" Piper suddenly blurted out. The question seemed to suck all of the air out of Alex's lungs, after holding herself together the entire time she was with the blonde those three words made the older woman want to crumble. Alex tensed her jaw, her eyes hardening as she stared at Piper. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Alex asked feeling outrage at the question, Piper looked away from Alex to the floor. Alex glared at the top of Piper's head; Piper slowly lifted her head after a few seconds of looking at the floor and shook her head. "No, no I'm not" Piper admitted quietly. Alex flared her nostrils in anger "We have a past Chapman, I'm very fucking aware of that!" Alex practically snarled as eight years' worth of resentment boiled to the surface, she felt a small sense of satisfaction at seeing Piper wince in her seat at her tone of voice but the feeling was quickly overcome by Alex's unstoppable need to protect Piper. Alex inhaled deeply and reigned in her anger, "Don't be mistaken Chapman, you are just another employee to me. Our PAST…" Alex spat out "… will not affect our strictly working relationship. Is that understood?" Piper nodded quickly in understanding. "Good. Now if you don't have any more work related questions you can go and get settled in your office which is acro…" "Nicky actually showed me that at least" Piper tried to joke wanting to ease some of the tension in the room that had been created by her question. Alex nodded and watched as Piper gathered her belongings and stood up from her chair, Piper turned to leave the room and was about to walk out of Alex's office when Alex's voice stopped her in the threshold of the door. "Chapman" Alex called out, Piper turned in the doorway to look at Alex with hopeful eyes. Alex smirked arrogantly and arched a brow, "Nice ring" the older woman said. Piper shoved her left hand into her trouser pocket understanding that Alex was letting her know that she had seen her engagement ring. "Thanks" Piper replied quietly then shut the office door behind her leaving Alex to stare at its wooden surface. Alex sat for a handful of minutes just staring at the door in disbelief, her cold and calm demeanour slipped the second that Piper had closed the door behind her. Hurt, anger, joy and resentment battled inside of Alex at seeing Piper again.

"Engaged" Alex whispered to herself while reaching up to her face to take her glasses off, she threw them onto her desk then raised her hands to her eyes and dug the heels of her palms into her eye sockets, Alex sighed heavily then murmured "Piper Fucking Chapman".

XXX

Piper slowly walked across the hallway and opened the door to her office; she walked through the door and closed it softly behind her. The blonde carefully walked over to her desk and pulled out the chair that was pushed underneath; Piper collapsed into the desk chair then placed the file that Alex has given her onto the surface of her desk. Piper raised her hands from her sides and placed them palms facing down on either side of the file in front of her, Piper looked at the file on her desk then squeezed her eyes tightly shut, she finally let the turmoil she had been feeling over the last half an hour take over her. The blonde drew in a sharp breath and hung her head, "Fuck!" Piper groaned out loud, she bit her bottom lip and kept her eyes closed as Alex's cold, green eyes flashed in her mind. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!" with each fuck that Piper muttered she spoke louder. "I can't believe this is happening" Piper groaned as she opened her eyes while lifting her head, "She fucking hates me" Piper whimpered and stared into space. _Of course she fucking hates you, you stupid bitch. _Piper's mind screamed at her. Piper replayed the anger she had witnessed in Alex's eyes when she asked how she was, Piper genuinely wanted to know how the other woman was doing. Since she realised that it was Alex who was sat in front of her the old feelings that she thought she had locked securely away had rushed to the surface, she hadn't heard most of what Alex had said about her working hours as her mind kept screaming Alex's name, her heart had raced in her chest as she looked at the dark haired woman and the rush of energy she always felt around Alex buzzed through her veins. The blonde had wanted to smile and reach across the desk to the older woman but when Alex had called her Chapman, Piper knew Alex wasn't feeling what she was. "…you are just another employee to me…" Piper drew in a deep breath and nodded as she replayed the words that Alex had said. In the eight years that she had last seen Alex she had never imagined that the Alex she would be reunited with would be cold, distant and borderline hostile, and Piper had imagined their reunion countless times over the years. The Alex she was reunited with in her fantasies always greeted her with the smile on her face that she wore only for Piper, her arms opened wide for Piper to rush into. Piper would apologise once for leaving and Alex would immediately forgive her, because Alex always forgave Piper in the past no matter how epically she had fucked up. Fantasy Alex would kiss Piper than make love to her for hours on end while moaning Piper's name in her deep gravelly voice that Piper loved so much, they would tell each other how much they had missed the other while getting reacquainted with each other's bodies.

"I am so fucking stupid" Piper groaned and dragged her hands down her face at her unrealistic expectations of a reunion with her ex-girlfriend; she rested her chin on her clenched hands and looked down at the file that held her contract. _I could always walk away, _Piper thought, _I haven't signed anything yet so it should be easy to walk out. _Piper blinked rapidly and shook her head. No she wasn't going to run, sure Alex might hate her but she had also said that she wasn't going to let their past affect their working relationship. Piper decided that she was going to stay at New Chapter and work for Alex Vause, she needed the income anyway, she had a wedding to pay for after all Piper reasoned with herself for wanting to stay and be around Alex and not run for the hills like she should be doing. Piper reached over to a pen holder that was placed at the edge of her desk and grabbed a pen, she flipped open the file in front of her and signed her name next to Alex's without reading any of the information printed. _No turning back now_, Piper thought as she scribbled her signature onto the last page of her contract.

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Piper spent her first day working at New Chapter getting to know her new colleagues; she had casually asked Lorna why everyone went by their surnames and freaked out when the other woman had told her that it was a prison thing, Lorna went on to explain how Alex employed a few ex-convicts and that some of the staff had met while they were inside then got their friends jobs working for Alex when they had got out of prison. Lorna had tried to reassure Piper that the staff were good people once she realised how the blonde had reacted to the news, she explained that most of the staff working for Alex had been inside due to minor drug related crimes and a couple for fraud which instantly eased Piper's mind about possibly working with murderers. The blonde met Taystee who had laughed at Piper's business suit then told her that everyone wore whatever they wanted to work as long as it was casual, to which Piper had felt extremely overdressed and wanted to change. On her lunch break Piper bumped into Crazy eyes as she left the bathroom, the woman had stopped the blonde with a wide smile and told her that she was going to call her dandelion she then proceeded to recite poetry to Piper in the hallway, who stood in shock for a few minutes before retreating from the other woman back into the store understanding now why the other staff called the black woman Crazy eyes. Piper didn't see Alex again for the rest of the working day, she had looked around the store often to see if she could catch a quick glimpse of her ex-girlfriend, but the door to Alex's office stayed firmly shut all day and Alex didn't venture out of the room.

It was after closing hours and Piper was sat in her office, she had left her colleagues in the store preparing for the next day while she set up an email account for work. Piper was typing on her computer when suddenly the door to her office slammed open; the blonde quickly looked up from her computer to glare at the person who had rudely interrupted her. "Who the fuck are you?" the woman stood in the doorway of Piper's office asked. Piper straightened in her chair at the question and narrowed her eyes at the young woman who stood in front of her, the woman had blonde corn rolls and a tattoo down the length of her throat with a pair of beats hanging around her neck. "I'm Piper Chapman the new manager here at New Chapter" Piper answered in a brisk tone her WASPiness showing through, "And you are?" Piper asked. "Jeez listen to you college all la de dah and shit", Piper frowned at this and pushed her shoulders back. "I'm Tricia Miller, I'm the DJ at The Hive" Tricia answered. The name clicked in Piper's brain from a conversation she had had with Alex that morning, "Oh ok, how can I help you?" "I need the laptops for my class, it starts in an hour and I want to get the room sorted before people arrive" Tricia said. Piper looked around her office in confusion; she hadn't figured out where anything was yet in the room and had no idea where the laptops that Tricia needed were stored. Tricia sighed then walked across Piper's office to a filing cabinet that was placed behind Piper, the younger blonde crouched down and opened the bottom draw of the cabinet and started to pull out the laptops inside then placed them onto the floor beside her while Piper watched from her seat. "I teach my class every Wednesday for an hour" Tricia informed Piper who nodded in reply, "when my class is done I'll fetch the laptops back and put them away, so don't lock your office door if you leave" Tricia added as she picked up the laptops from the floor then stood up. "Ok" Piper replied as Tricia headed towards her office door, "See you around college" the younger woman called out over her shoulder as she exited Piper's office. Piper sighed feeling annoyed that she had been given yet another nickname that she didn't like, she glared in the direction of the open door of her office, that Tricia hadn't closed as she left the room, and shook her head in annoyance.

Piper turned to face her computer to finish setting up her email account then closed the computer down once she had finished, she was done for the day and all she wanted to do was head home to take a long hot soak in her bath to try and wash away the day. Seeing Alex again and having to deal with the emotional response she had had to the other woman had left Piper feeling drained, she had made the choice to stick around at New Chapter but Piper was quickly realising that it was going to be hard work. Knowing Alex was in the same building had Piper on edge all day, she flipped between wanting to see Alex and hoping that the older would stay shut away in her office. Before she could leave for the day Piper had one last thing she needed to do, she gathered her belongings then picked up the file that contained her contract from her desk where she had left it all day after signing and made her way across the hall to stand in front of Alex's office door. Butterflies fluttered inside Piper's stomach as she stood outside of the door, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply through her mouth. _She's your Boss, nothing else_, Piper thought. Piper opened her eyes and raised a shaking hand to knock on the wooden door in front of her, "Come in" filtered through the door to Piper who once again closed her eyes. "God that voice" Piper whispered as the flutter in her stomach intensified, Piper snapped open her eyes as Alex called out for her to "come in" again. Piper opened the door and stood in the threshold waiting for Alex to look up from her computer and acknowledge her presence. "Boss" Piper said then watched as the edges of Alex's mouth twitched up into an amused smirk which irritated the blonde, "I have my signed contract here" Piper continued to say as she walked further into the room towards Alex's desk. Alex still didn't take her eyes from her computer screen as Piper approached her, when Piper reached Alex's desk she glanced at Alex's computer screen and became instantly pissed off. _Solitaire! _Her mind screeched, _she's fucking ignoring me because she's playing solitaire! _ Piper slammed the file that was in her hand onto Alex's desk with such force the air created from the action wafted towards Alex and blew strands of her hair away from her face, Piper watched as the dark haired woman continued to play her game with a blank expression. Piper shook her head in disgust, _still a fucking asshole,_ she thought. The blonde spun on her heel, ready to leave the room while grumbling under her breath, when Alex finally spoke to her, "Chapman your discount card and a list of the places you get a discount" Alex said and waved absently in the direction of a piece of paper and plastic card that was sat at the end of her desk, Alex still didn't look at Piper as she spoke. Piper turned and reached out to snap the objects of off Alex's desk then quickly walked out of the office, she closed the door quietly behind her while fighting the urge to slam it and headed home for a much needed bath and possibly a glass, or four, of wine.

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Alex sighed and clicked off of her game once Piper had shut the office door, she had known instantly who was at the door when Piper had knocked as no one ever knocked at her office door, her employees barged into Alex's office whenever they felt like it. Alex had quickly clicked on the game before calling out for Piper to enter; she didn't want the blonde to know that she had sat there all day doing nothing. There were no paper work on her desk and solitaire was the first thing that she had clicked on her computer, Alex had spent the day thinking about her relationship with Piper. After the younger woman had left her office that morning Alex had sat and replayed every second of their year long relationship, it hadn't helped calm her emotions as she remembered watching the back of Piper's head as she had left her standing alone in their Paris hotel room but Alex couldn't help herself. Seeing Piper again had messed up her head, over the years Alex had fought hard not to think about the blonde that had captured her heart then shattered it into a million pieces. Thinking about Piper only brought Alex pain and usually tears, Alex had grown to hate herself for not being strong enough to handle been left by the blonde but she had loved Piper with everything that she was and when the younger woman left her she had taken a huge part of Alex with her.

Alex sighed again while raking her hands through her dark locks. _I can do this_, she thought; _I just need to stay away from her. _Alex chuckled at her thoughts, "right cos that was so easy the first time around" she said out loud. Alex slouched in her chair and smiled as she thought about how pissed Piper had been at being ignored for solitaire, Alex knew it was immature but she was determined to not let herself be weak around Piper and not looking at the younger woman helped. Alex reached out her hand for the file that Piper had slammed on her desk when her office door was flung open to reveal a smiling Nicky, Nicky walked into the room and sat down in one of the leather chairs in front of Alex's desk, she lifted her feet up from the floor and plonked them on top of the desk. The two friends silently observed each other; Alex knew what was coming as he had waited all day for Nicky to show up at her door, she was grateful that she had waited until Piper had left.

"She's hot" Nicky stated "she looked like she was either gonna puke over you or run and hug you" Nicky laughed. Alex looked at Nicky with a blank expression; she really didn't want to talk about Pipers she had had enough thinking about her all day. "Come on Vause, how do you know Chapman?" Nicky asked. Alex realised she was going to have to give Nicky a little information for her to back off from her questioning, "She's from my past" Alex answered. "No shit Sherlock, was she one of ya mules?" Alex quickly shook her head. Nicky was one of the few people in Alex's life that knew what she had done for a living in the past, Alex wasn't ashamed of what she used to do she just didn't trust many people. "Ex?" Nicky asked, Alex kept her face expressionless and didn't answer the question. "I'll take that as a yes" Nicky chuckled, "What went down between the two of you? Blondie looked really fucking shocked to see you". Alex shrugged, "Things". "Things?" Nicky repeated wanting to know more from her friend, "And stuff" Alex added. "Fine Vause, don't tell me shit. I'll get what I wanna know outta Blondie, she seems like a talker" Nicky chuckled. "Yeah she is" Alex admitted with a heavy sigh. Nicky frowned at Alex and dropped her feet to the floor, "You ok pimp?" she asked. Alex shrugged and pursed her lips, "Yes. No. Fuck if I know" she replied while lifting her glasses to rest them on top of her head. Nicky nodded at her friend understanding that Alex wasn't quite herself that evening and she was positive that it had something to do with the blonde that she had hired the previous day, "Wanna go out and drink our body weight in booze?" Nicky offered. "Fuck yeah!" Alex said with a smile and light chuckle, she knew that the alcohol would dull the emotions that had been crashing around inside if her all day and she really needed that. Alex decided that she would figure out how she was going to handle Piper being back in her life another day, tonight she was going to drink herself into oblivion and hopefully forget about Piper Chapman.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Piper walked into an eerily quiet New Chapter, the shutters of the store had been open when she arrived but the door was locked which Piper guessed meant Alex was already at work. Piper walked through the store towards the **STAFF ONLY **door, when she reached the door she pushed it open and came face to face with Alex. Alex took a step back from the door to avoid been hit with it as Piper pushed it open, Piper stood in front of Alex and stared into the raven haired woman's eyes.

Piper had spent the majority of the night before trying to convince herself that her reaction at seeing Alex again was a fluke, that she was just feeling overwhelmed with coming face to face with an ex that she has been madly in love with, but as she stood in the doorway looking at the other woman she knew she had been lying to herself as wave after wave of emotions bombarded her.

Piper was brought out of her gawping by Alex clearing her throat, Piper blinked quickly and searched Alex's face to see if the older woman had any kind of reaction to her but was met with a blank stare. As she searched Alex's face she noticed that the older woman looked exhausted, she had dark bags under eyes and her skin was paler than usual, Piper recognised the signs of a hung-over Alex immediately. Alex took another step away from Piper into the hallway, feeling slightly edgy with the way that Piper was scrutinising her. If the blonde hadn't known the signs of a hung-over Alex the alcohol fumes that rolled off of the woman as she backed away from Piper would have surely given her away, Piper grimaced in disgust as she was overcome with the smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol. _Why am I not surprised? She'll never change! _Piper thought judgingly, Piper walked through the doorway forcing Alex to back up to the wall or be bumped into by the blonde. Piper didn't take her eyes off of Alex as she slowly walked by; she noticed the way Alex gulped and breathed deeply through her mouth before closing her eyes. _She's going to throw up! HA! Serves her right for drinking on a work night!_ Piper thought unsympathetically. "Morning!" Piper said in an unnecessarily loud voice and felt a sense of pure satisfaction when she saw Alex wince, Piper smiled widely at Alex as the dark haired woman snapped open her eyes to glare at the blonde. "Have a great day!" Piper added even louder than before then with a pleased smirk on her face she walked down the hallway to her office.

Alex stood holding the door and watched Piper has she walked down the hallway, her eyes dropped to Piper's ass, which was covered by a pair of tight, blue jeans that hugged her toned ass perfectly. _Jesus! That ass! _Alex thought admiring and shook her head. The older woman had always been a sucker for Piper's backside and because of the alcohol in her system, or at least that was what Alex was telling herself, she stood and gawped lustfully at Piper's retreating derriere, biting her bottom lip as arousal began to trickled through her system.

Alex was pulled out of her staring by Piper turning her body sideways to face her office door; Alex slowly raked her eyes hungrily up the length of Piper's body while licking her parched lips. _I'm still fucking drunk, _the dark haired woman thought as an excuse as to why she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of Piper that morning. As Alex's gaze moved towards Piper's face her eyes locked with a pair of blue, hooded, desired filled eyes. _Fuck! _Alex thought at being caught ogling her ex. _Smooth Vause_, she internally mocked herself. As her eyes stayed locked with Piper's she raised an eyebrow cockily then slowly winked at the younger woman before stepping away from the wall and walking out of the door. She berated herself for getting caught practically drooling over Piper as she walked through the book shelves. _What a way to stay disconnected idiot!_ Alex thought as she headed over to the café area to make herself a coffee.

Alex had spent the night before getting completely wasted, she had formed a plan on how to handle her "Piper Situation" but so far the plan hadn't gone too well. Avoidance, that's the only thing Alex could think of to stop herself from getting close to Piper again. It wasn't her best thought out plan but then again she was drunk, in a bathroom stall fucking a nameless blonde, that a slight liking to the blonde she was trying to stay away from, when she had made it.

Alex shook her head self disparagingly and sipped her coffee, _Avoid! I'll only look at and speak to her when it's absolutely necessary! _Alex thought confidently but then her thoughts wandered back to the look in Piper's eyes when she had caught Alex checking her out, Alex knew that look! It was a look the blonde used to get when she wanted Alex to kiss her, Piper would pull on her bottom lip with her teeth while sauntering over to Alex swaying her hips more than usual knowing it drove Alex wild, she would… "No!" Alex snapped while shaking her head free of the past, "I am not going there" Alex muttered to herself, but deep down she knew that no matter what she thought or what she was telling herself, she was utterly screwed when it came to Piper Chapman.

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Piper spent the day in her office getting to grips with the business side of New Chapter after spending the previous day getting to know the staff, she only ventured out for coffee or toilet breaks. She had run into Alex again on one of her coffee dashes, she said "Afternoon" which the older woman hadn't responded to and instead quickly walked away from Piper.

Piper sighed and threw the pen that she was holding onto her desk, she looked down at the business reports that were fanned out across her desk and shook her head. She had been pouring over the reports for most of the day and came to the conclusion that New Chapter brought in very little revenue, it made enough to cover salaries and pay for stock but Alex was only receiving a small profit in return. Piper shook her head again, it didn't make any sense to the blonde, Alex couldn't possible live on what little she earned it would be impossible! Even the most frugal of people would find it extremely difficult and Piper knew from experience that Alex was anything but that. Suddenly Piper jumped to the worst conclusion she could think of, "The fucking cartel" she whispered. Piper hadn't given a second thought to Alex's old job, she had been too busy trying to get around the fact that Alex was back in her life to even think about the cartel but it was the only option Piper could think of as to how Alex was supporting herself. As the thought rushed through Piper's mind she realised that something didn't quite fit right with her thinking, she remembered clearly how Alex was always out and about doing business, how she constantly had her cell in her hand like it was an extra limb, rushing all over the place to organise runs and drop offs. Yet present Alex had spent the last two days across the hall from her barely leaving her office, she remained at New Chapter all day. _She couldn't possibly still work for the cartel, could she?_ Piper thought. Piper leaned back in her desk chair and frowned, she had always thought that Alex would stay with the cartel until she either ended up in prison or killed, but Piper just knew that Alex was no longer involved in the drug business.

"So how is she…" Piper abruptly sat up in her chair, understanding finally dawning on her. Piper reached under her desk for her bag and brought it to rest on her lap; she opened the bag and pulled out the list of other businesses that Alex owned, in a fit of rage she had shoved the list and her discount card into her bag as she left work the previous day. She had completely forgot about the list as she got home, having being too worked up over been ignored for a stupid computer game, she had taken a long, hot bubble bath to try and relax, the list slipping from her mind, as she constantly thought about the woman who had pissed her off in the first place,

Piper pulled out the list and read over the names of Alex's other businesses; she closed her bag and placed it back under her desk as she read. To say Piper was shocked would be an understatement, more than ten names were printed on the sheet of paper and Piper had already heard of some of them, they were classed as some of the hottest places to "be seen" in New York, people were very lucky if they ever made it through the door of the places Piper did know of on the list. Piper read the list again in awe, nightclubs, restaurants, wine bars, even cafes were listed on the piece of paper in her hand and Alex owned them all. Piper smiled widely at the list, her eyes sparkling brightly as a swell of pride formed in her chest at what Alex had accomplished over the years. Piper had always known that Alex was a great business woman but the list of establishments in her hands proved exactly how great Alex truly was! Piper laid the list on her desk in front of her then reached out for the mouse of her computer, curiosity over taking her senses. She clicked on Google and began to type the first name on the list into the search engine; she was interrupted from her typing by her office door abruptly opening. Piper looked from away from her computer screen to the door to see who had barged in, "Have you ever heard of knocking?" Piper asked with a shake of her head. Nicky laughed and grinned amusedly, "No fucker knocks in this joint Blondie, get used to it". Piper frowned at this information. "Can I help you?" Piper asked bitingly, she really wanted to get back to searching Alex's other businesses on the net. "Yea kinda, I'm here to kick you out" Nicky replied with a smirk. Piper stiffened in her chair and instantly began to panic at Nicky's words, _I knew it! I'm being fired! Alex is firing me and sending Nicky to do her dirty work! _Piper thought in a panic, she knew she had only worked a couple of days at New Chapter but she really enjoyed it and wanted to stay! Nicky watched as fear danced across the taller blonde's face, "Relax Blondie, you like your about to piss your pants" Nicky said with concern lacing her words. "It's getting late, it's time to head home" Nicky stated in a calm voice trying to ease Piper. Piper visibly relaxed in her seat at this then glanced at the time on her computer, **17:42** she read not thinking it was late at all. "Oh ok, I'm just going to finish thi…" "Nope" Nicky interrupted, "You're going home". "Nicky I have things I need to do; we only closed twelve minutes ago so I'm…" "It's Thursday" Nicky interrupted Piper again. Piper's temper began to flare at constantly being interrupted by the other woman, "So?" she snapped to which Nicky smirked and widen her eyes. "So, we closed an hour and forty two minutes ago" she explained. When Piper didn't make a move from her desk Nicky sighed, "Which means you're gonna get that hot, blonde, ass of yours out of here pronto". "I still have work to do" Piper replied stubbornly, not understanding why Nicky wanted her to leave. "And it'll still be here in the morning, look Blondie I'm not asking ok? I'm telling ya, go home. You have five minutes before I personally kick your ass out of the building". Piper furrowed her brow at the threat, "You're being serious?", "As a heart attack" Nicky replied then left Piper alone in her office.

As Piper quickly put her files away and grabbed her things, she wondered what the big secret about Thursday's was. She picked up the list of Alex's other businesses and put it back into her bag as she hurriedly walked out of her office, not wanting to test if Nicky was in fact being serious about kicking her out. She walked through the staff door, through the book shelves and was headed towards the entrance of the store when she heard laughter coming from the cafe. Piper turned around to see Nicky, Taystee, Crazy eyes and Alex sat at the café counter. "Night Chapman", "See ya tomorrow Blondie" and "I'll miss you Dandelion" were all called out as Piper stood looking at the group of women. Alex was the only one that hadn't called out to Piper and she hadn't looked over at the blonde either. _What the fuck is going on? _Piper thought as she continued to stare at the group, "Night guys" Piper replied. With once last glance at Alex, Piper turned and left the store, confusion filling her mind. She was only a few paces away from the entrance of the store when Tricia walked by, "Yo College" the younger woman greeted Piper. "H…Hi Miller" Piper stuttered in response and watched as Tricia walked into New Chapter and closed the door behind her. Feeling exasperated by the situation, Piper headed towards her car with a new sense of determination to find out what the huge fucking secret was to Thursday at New Chapter.

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Friday evening Alex sat at the café counter reading through some paperwork that needed signing, before the manager of one of her bars arrived to pick them up. It was nearing closing time when the bell over the New Chapter door chimed, signalling a new visitor had arrived. "Whatup bitches" was shouted out across the store. "If it isn't my favourite diesel dyke" Nicky said, from behind the cafe counter, with a chuckle. Boo flipped Nicky off as she approached the counter and stood next to Alex as she finished signing the paperwork that Boo had come for, "Done" Alex said while lifting the paperwork up then slapped them down into Boo's open, waiting hands. "And I thank you" Boo said with a chuckle as Nicky walked over to the duo and leaned across the counter towards them. "How's business Boo?" Nicky asked the other woman, "Booming" Boo replied. "That's what I like to hear" Alex said with a smile, "Thanks for signing these Boss" Boo said and began to turn towards the door "I can't stay, it's Friday night and some fucker as rang in si…" Boo trailed off from what she was saying and grinned widely. Alex heard footsteps approaching from behind her and sighed, she didn't need to turn around to know that it was Piper heading towards them as the rest of her staff were scattered around the café area. "And who do we have here?" Boo said as Piper reached the counter and stood closely next to Alex. Boo walked around Alex to her other side and leaned against the counter, pushing herself between Piper and Alex which the dark haired woman was grateful for. "Well aren't you a cute lil thing, what's ya name cutie?" Boo asked appreciatively as she looked up and down Piper's body. "I…I'm Chapman" Piper answered, which Alex smirked at knowing the blonde was definitely getting to grips with how things ran around the store by the way she had introduced herself to Boo. "She's the new manager Boo, so back the fuck off" Nicky said as she watched Boo move closer to Piper. "Why Nichols? Chapman could be interested in getting some of this, are you interested?" Boo asked Piper in what she thought was a flirtatious tone, "I'm engaged" Piper squeaked, feeling uncomfortable by how close Boo was to her. Hearing those two words fall out of Piper's mouth created a heavy, lead feeling in the pit of Alex's stomach, "To a Man" Piper quickly added as Boo continued to stare at her. Alex gritted her teeth and breathed deeply through her nose to try and stop the jealousy that was now clawing at her chest, Piper might not have been Alex's for a long time but since they had met nine years ago, Alex had always felt possessive over the younger woman.

"What a shocker" Boo replied in mock astonishment making Nicky laugh and Alex chuckle, "I feel some Sapphic vibes coming off of you though Chapman" Nicky teased the blonde then looked at Alex, "Don't you Vause?" she added with a mischievous grin. Alex smirked at Nicky and shook her head as a huge, shit eating grin appeared across Nicky's face. _Subtle Nichols_, Alex thought feeling amused by her friend's antics. "Did I just hear you say you were getting married?" Lorna called out, from the other side of the café, to Piper. Boo, now bored of the conversation and knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with Piper, backed away from the counter. "I'm outta here fuckers, some of us have got work to do" she said, being passed by Lorna who was rushing towards Piper, as she headed for the exit. "We might come round later" Nicky shouted at Boo while looking at Alex, who nodded in agreement, "Cool, see ya later. Nice meeting ya Chapman" Boo called out then left New Chapter.

Lorna had now reached the café counter and taken the place between Piper and Alex that Boo had just vacated. "Have you set a date?" Lorna asked Piper excitedly, Alex saw Piper nod from the corner of her eye. "It's six weeks from today" Piper replied. Alex's heart dropped at the information, her blood seemed to run cold in her veins making her feel numb. _Six weeks! _Alex thought, _she's going to get married in six fucking weeks! _Lorna squealed and clapped her hands excitedly at the news, "Me and Christopher, that's my fiancé, haven't set a date yet but we're looking at spring time next year" Lorna said.

Alex quickly looked at Nicky, Alex was a master at masking her emotions but Nicky on the other hand was an open book and Alex could clearly see the devastation that Lorna was causing Nicky as she talked about her wedding to her fiancé. The two women had being secretly sleeping together for months, even though Lorna was in a relationship with Christopher, but when Christopher proposed Lorna had called things of with Nicky, breaking the blonde's heart in the process.

"What's your fiancé called?" Lorna asked, "Larry" Piper answered while trying to discreetly look around Lorna to catch a glimpse of Alex. Alex's shoulder's shook in silent laughter as she thought, _what kind of fucking name is Larry? He sounds boring as fuck! _"Do you have your wedding colours picked out? I've chosen yellow and pick for mine" Lorna said with excitement. Alex continued to watch Nicky as Lorna talked; she wanted to tell the woman to shut the fuck up! Couldn't she see the damage she was doing to her friend? Instead Alex did something she very rarely did with her staff at New Chapter; she switched into The Boss mode. "Get to work" she ordered in a cold tone making Lorna spin around and look at her while nervously nodding her head then scurrying off to work. Piper stared at Alex opened mouth in shock then turned and walked in the direction that Lorna had gone, Alex looked over at Nicky who was looking back at her with grateful eyes. Alex raised an eyebrow and smiled comfortingly at her best friend, "Drinks?" she asked knowing that tonight Nicky would need to drink away her pain, "Drinks" Nicky agreed then began cleaning behind the counter, with Alex's help, so they could leave.

Piper sat in her living room, on her couch, with her laptop across her knees and the list of Alex's businesses next to her. Piper had spent the last two nights Googling all of the places on the list, she was extremely impressed by what she had found, every single one of Alex's business had its own website as well as twitter accounts and facebook pages, that is every single one but New Chapter. Piper was determined to boost business at New Chapter; she wanted to prove herself to Alex. She didn't understand her need to have Alex's approval but she had always craved it, when they had been in a relationship Piper had never felt like she had Alex's full approval, she always felt like she was a little too WASPY for Alex's friends or wasn't spontaneous enough which Alex liked in people. But with New Chapter Piper felt she could finally earn Alex's approval, she was going to set up a website for the store and create its own social media accounts, Piper was going to put New Chapter's name out into the great, wide world and fetch in more business. At least that's what Piper hoped would happen, and maybe if she improved business Alex would stop ignoring her, right?

Piper had realised that afternoon what Alex was doing, there were only so many times you could greet someone without getting a response in return to realise that said person was ignoring you. Alex was basically pretending that Piper didn't exist, and as much as it pissed Piper off, she knew that she deserved it after what she had done eight years ago. She couldn't apologise for what she had done if Alex wouldn't acknowledge her though! Then again Piper had no idea what she would say anyway. Usually Alex was a forgiving person and didn't hold a grudge for long, but Piper knew without a doubt that she was the exception, that Alex wouldn't be forgiving her any time soon. Piper just wanted to be close to Alex, she wanted to know what Alex had been up to since she had left, she wanted to know Alex again!

Piper sighed and thought back to that evening at work, she had walked over to the café to stand next to Alex hoping that because they were in public Alex would finally acknowledge her. How wrong she had been! She didn't know if she had pissed Alex off by talking about her wedding or if Lorna had, either way when Alex had ordered them back to work Piper had wanted to apologise to the dark haired woman even though she hadn't done anything wrong.

"Pipes?" Larry's voice brought Piper out of her thoughts of what had happened at work, "Are you coming to bed sweetie?" he asked. Piper scrunched up her face and turned to look at Larry who was stood in the archway of their living room, "What time is it?" she asked her fiancé. "It's nearly eleven, you're up early for work and don't forget we have dinner tomorrow night. You don't want Polly making fun of you because you look tired" Larry laughed. "Dinner?" Piper asked confused, "Yeah remember, dinner with Polly, Pe…" "Shit!" Piper muttered, she had forgotten about the dinner plans they had made. Larry chuckled and walked over to kneel in front of Piper, taking her hand in his own. "You've being a little off since you started this new job, why don't we go to bed and cuddle?" he offered with a gentle smile. Piper nodded and smiled in return, she let Larry lead her to their bedroom by her hand and climbed under the covers he pulled back for her. As they lay in bed, Piper's head on Larry's chest and his arm wrapped around her, flashes of Alex appeared in Piper's mind. Her green eyes, her blood red pouty lips, her long black locks that Piper loved to rake her fingers through. _I need to know her again,_ Piper thought as she closed her eyes and pretend that it was Alex who had her arm wrapped around her, that it was Alex who held her tightly to her chest and it was with the pretence of being close to Alex that Piper finally relaxed and fell asleep in Larry's arms.

XXX

The next morning Alex woke with a groan and grimaced as the aroma of coffee filled her nostrils. She and Nicky had drank their body weight in alcohol after they had left work the previous evening, Nicky had bitched about Lorna and her hetro wedding all night while Alex mumbled in agreement, downing shot after shot while thinking about Piper and her upcoming nuptials. As the aroma of coffee invaded her senses again, Alex stiffened where she was laid has she realised she had no idea where the hell she was! The cold surface that her body was moulded to felt like a couch, at least that's what Alex was guessing, but she didn't know why the smell of coffee was presently torturing her. Alex opened her eyes as she sat up from the couch she was laying on, her vision blurry from not wearing her glasses; Alex squinted at her surroundings trying to bring the room into focus. Alex quickly recognised the familiar room as the New Chapter staff room, "How the fuck did I get here?" Alex croaked in confusion. "I'm guessing you came here after your night out and passed out" said a familiar voice, Alex closed her eyes again and flopped back onto the couch she was sat on then sighed. _Piper,_ she thought. Alex felt something small and hard hit her in the middle of her chest, without opening her eyes she raised her hands to reach for the item and realised that it was her glasses that Piper had thrown to her. She put her glasses on but ignored Piper as the blonde walked to stand at the side of the couch to look down at the dark haired woman, "I made coffee" Piper said as she shoved a mug under Alex's nose. Alex's stomach clenched as the smell hit her; she opened her eyes to glare at Piper while pushing the mug away from her. "For fucks sake Chapman!" Alex growled, "Oh you're actually acknowledging me today?" Piper asked sarcastically. Alex scowled at the woman who was staring down at her, "Yeah I know what you're doing" Piper added "real mature Alex". Alex abruptly sat up and swung her legs round so her feet were planted on the floor in front of the couch, "Fuck you!" Alex snapped while tilting her head back so she could look into the depths of Piper's blue eyes that were swimming with anger. Alex felt a strong urge to look away from the anger in Piper's eyes but that would make her seem weak and Alex was determined not to be that around the blonde, so instead she raised her chin defiantly and stared back at the younger woman. Piper shook her head as she watched Alex then reached out her hand to give Alex the coffee she had made her, Alex refused the drink with a shake of her head. Piper sighed then marched over to a nearby table and slammed the mug down, "Asshole!" she said to the other woman then turned and walked out of the staff room.

Alex watched as Piper left the room, her mind transporting her to Paris and how she had just let Piper leave then as well. Suddenly Alex felt an overwhelming need to run after the blonde and take her into her arms, Alex began to push of off the couch ready to follow Piper when she heard a moan from behind the couch. Alex frowned and looked over her shoulder to see Nicky appear as she stood up from the floor, "How did we…" "Not a fucking clue" Alex said before Nicky had finished her sentence. Nicky walked around to the front of the couch and sat down next to Alex. Alex looked at her friend and smiled at the state she was in, Nicky's usual wild mane of hair was worse than usual and the previous days make up that she had worn was smudged across her face. "You look like shit" Alex chuckled. "Yea well, you aint no oil painting either Vause, fuck I'm getting too old for this shit" Nicky grumbled, Alex nodded in agreement. "She's right ya know" Nicky abruptly said, Alex furrowed her brow in confusing. "Chapman" Nicky explained, "You are being an asshole". Alex sighed at this and shrugged, "Look Vause, I don't know what happened between you guys, yet, but what I do know is that you can't keep going on like this. We've gone out every night since she started working here and it's obviously not helping you fight your demons. You need to find another way to deal with your shit my friend" Nicky said wisely. Alex lifted her glasses from her face to rest them on top of her head, pushing her hair back from her face in the process. "I don't know what else to do Nicky" Alex admitted vulnerably. Nicky smiled at her friend sympathetically, "Stop ignoring her for starters, whatever happened with you guys happened. It's time to face it and get back to normal" Alex slouched back on the couch then leaned her head back to rest on the back of the couch and looked at the ceiling, she knew Nicky was right. Avoiding Piper wasn't working as the blonde was all she could think about, it was time she put on her big girl pants and got back to how life was before Piper had re-entered it.

Later that evening Piper sat in a bustling restaurant surrounded by Larry, Polly and her husband Pete, since they had sat down for dinner Piper had been guzzling the wine on offer and now she was feeling very drunk. Piper slouched in her seat and listened has Polly and Larry started talking about her wedding, she quickly tuned out of the conversation and drank more wine. She wasn't interested in talking about seating plans or how Polly had finalised the plans for Piper's bachelorette party, she was too preoccupied with thoughts of Alex.

After waking Alex up that morning Piper had done nothing but sulk all day, she had tried to do something nice for the other woman and had it thrown back in her face! _But at least she talked to me today, _Piper thought, sure it was only two words and they weren't exactly nice words either but as least it was an improvement from being completely ignored, Piper had reasoned with herself after her anger at Alex had worn off.

Piper took a huge gulp from the wine glass in her hand and smiled dreamily while she thought back to how she had found Alex asleep on the couch in the staff room at work, she had watched Alex sleep for a few minutes before she had woken her by wafting the coffee she had made her next to her head. Seeing Alex pouting in her sleep had brought back memories of the other times Piper had watched Alex sleep, which wasn't very often as usually Alex was up and out before Piper had opened her eyes. But on the rare occasion she had woken up before Alex she had laid next to the raven haired beauty and closely watched every flicker of Alex's eyelids, she would stare longingly at Alex's pouty lips before giving in and kissing her awake. These were some of Piper's favourite mornings as she got to see Alex at her most vulnerable.

Piper was pulled out of her happy memories of what would happen after she had kissed Alex awake by Polly saying her name. Piper shook her head to clear her mind then looked across the table at her friend who was sat next to her husband, "Earth to Pipes, jeez, I just asked how the new job was going and you totally blanked me". "Sorry Pol, I was miles away" Piper replied feeling annoyed by her friend's interruption. "Soooo?" Polly said, Piper looked blankly at Polly who sighed in return, "How's the new job?". Piper drained her wine glass of the liquid then banged the empty glass on top of the table "Oh you know, it's great" Piper said sarcastically. Piper loved working at New Chapter but after the past few days of emotional stress from seeing Alex again and being ignored; Piper needed to get a few things off of her chest and her best friend was the only person she could talk too. Piper completely forgot about Larry who was sat beside her as she drunkenly zeroed in on Polly, "I work with ex-convicts who may or may not have murdered someone, I've been told they haven't but you never know right?" Piper said while reaching out for a wine bottle nearby to fill up her glass, Piper sloshed some of the clear liquid onto the table as she over filled her glass then continued to tell Polly about work, not registering the gasp of shock from her companions. "I've been called Blondie, College and Dandelion which I'm not entirely sure aren't insults, and I also go by Chapman because it's a prison thing to go by surnames". "Dandelion?" Polly asked, Piper nodded her head as she tried to drink from her glass making the liquid dribble down her chin. "By Crazy Eyes" she explained as she wiped her chin, "What the hell Pipes" Piper heard someone say thinking it was Polly, Piper leaned across the table, bringing her face closer to her friends. "And you wanna know what the icing on the cake is Poll?". "I'm slightly afraid to ask" Polly said warily, Piper grinned widely and jabbed her forefinger onto the table as she spoke "My lesbian, ex-girlfriend is my new boss". "Holy shit!", "What?!" and "That's fucking hilarious" were all called out at once. "You had a girlfriend?!" Larry's voice suddenly registered through Piper's drunken mind, "OOOOOOH" Piper said, suddenly sobering up as she turned to face Larry with her eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. "You had a girlfriend?" Larry asked again, "Yeeeah" Piper replied cautiously. "How could you not have told me this? When were you gay?" Piper scoffed at this "I'm not gay ok? I just got into a relationship with another woman" she defended herself. "Being with another woman is pretty gay" Pete laughed. "Shut up Pete" Piper snapped as she glared at the Aussie then turned back to her fiancé, "Look Larry I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Alex but…" "Alex? That's her name?" Piper smiled at Alex's name and nodded. "Super cunt is more fitting" Polly chimed in but Piper chose to ignore her. "When were you together? How long for? Why didn't you tell me about her? I've told you everything about my past relationships" Larry whined his voice grating on Piper. Piper sighed at the questions, she really didn't want to get into her relationship with Alex, with Larry but she felt like she had to give him some details to calm him down. "We met after college, we were together for just over a year and I didn't tell you about her because I wanted to forget about it" Piper answered. "You wanted to forget?" Larry asked, Piper nodded. "Why? Her fiancé asked, "I just did ok, it was a crazy time for me". "Yea the cunt drove Piper crazy, like you wouldn't even recognise her" Polly said to Larry. "What do you mean by that?" Piper asked defensively. "You turned into someone you're not" Polly replied "You dropped everything to follow her around the world like a fucking puppy! It was weird", "Wait you told me you'd gone travelling with Polly" Larry said. Pete chuckled at this "Mate, Polly has never left the States". Larry turned to glare at Piper accusingly, "Another lie? Do I know anything about you?" he asked in a raised voice drawing the attention of some of the people sat at other tables. "Keep your voice down, you know everything about me apart from that time of my life. I was experimenting, my post college adventure. Others did pot or helped in third world countries, I happened to get in a relationship with a woman and travel with her. It's not a big deal sweetie" Piper said. Larry sighed "Is she why you've been stressed since starting your job?" he asked. "No" Piper lied "I hardly see her and when I do she doesn't acknowledge my existence". "Seriously?" Polly asked. Piper turned to look and her friend and nodded "Yeah, she completely blanks me when I talk to her. She's being a…", "Super Cunt?" Polly interrupted. Piper smiled in agreement then turned back to her fiancé, "Can we not talk about this please and leave it in the past where it belongs?" Piper asked pleadingly needing to get off of the subject of Alex before she said something that would make Larry realise that Alex had being more than just an experiment. Larry nodded "Ok as long as you're honest from now on about these things, I don't like feeling as if I don't know you. We are getting married after all" Larry said, Piper smiled weakly in reply.

"Once last thing" Polly said, Piper looked at her friend questioningly, "Please tell me she got fat, like huge" Polly pleaded. Piper nibbled on her lower lip as she thought about Alex's body, how it was still tight and curvy in all the right places and how her clothes clung to her body like a second skin, teasing the blonde with memories of touching what was underneath. Her eyes sparkling with lust and with a flush along her cheeks, Piper shook her head, a small hungry smile on her mouth. "Shit" Polly murmured under her breath, she had seen that look from Piper before concerning Alex and she knew it meant trouble was on its way.


	4. Chapter 4

Monday morning quickly rolled around for both Alex and Piper, Alex had spent her Sunday catching up on work that she had let pile up during the week and Piper had spent hers avoiding questions from Larry about her "lesbian relationship" as he called it.

It was mid-morning and Alex was stood outside of Piper's office door, she was following Nicky's advice and facing her Piper situation. She was no longer going to ignore the blonde, she was going to be professional and treat Piper like she did the rest of her staff, Alex knew she had to accept Piper back in her life has the blonde was staying put at New Chapter. Alex breathed deeply as she stood facing the door trying to calm the nerves that were slowly building inside of her, though she had made the decision to go to Piper, Alex felt uneasy with not knowing how it would all work out once she walked through the door. Sighing and knowing it had to be done, Alex reached out her hand and grabbed hold of the door handle and began to open the door. There's no need to be nervous, it's only Piper, Alex thought to herself as she slowly opened the door, that's exactly why you should be nervous, her mind added. "Here we go" Alex mumbled to herself once she had fully opened the door to Piper's office.

Piper sat behind her desk clicking away while looking at her computer screen, "Why can't you people learn to knock?" she asked, not taking her eyes from the computer screen as her office door opened. "I could always leave" Alex said. Piper's head snapped up to face the door as she heard Alex's voice, "No!" she called out as Alex half turned to leave her office. Alex looked at Piper with a raised eyebrow, "No please don't" Piper added pleadingly. The blonde sat in shock as Alex nodded and walked into her office, she watched as the older woman sat in the chair that was in front of her desk, and then raised her foot to rest on her knee while leaning back in the chair with her arms hanging over the arm rests. Alex looked the picture of relaxation while Piper felt like she was about to explode with happiness at Alex being in her office.

Alex sat in the chair and looked at Piper, a well of emotions bubbled under her skin as she looked into Piper's blue eyes. She had watched the blonde as the shock in her eyes had quickly changed and began to sparkle with hope as she had walked into the room, the nerves that she had felt before entering abruptly subsided and was replaced with the familiar feeling of calm she felt around the younger woman. Instead of fighting the feeling like she had before, Alex decided to just accept the fact that some thing would never change concerning Piper.

"Hi" Piper said quietly, afraid that if she moved too fast or spoke too loud Alex would bolt from her office. "Hey" Alex replied with a small smile on her mouth. Piper leaned back in her seat and let her eyes roam over Alex. Dressed in black skinny jeans with a black tank top under a red checkered shirt and combat boots on her feet, her face make-up free apart from a little eye liner and her hair flowing around her shoulders, Alex looked good enough to eat! Piper's eyes filled with desire as she continued to rake her eyes over Alex sitting in her chair, unconsciously her tongue slipped out of her mouth and ran along her lips as thoughts of Alex's naked body writhing beneath her filled Piper's mind. Alex squirmed in her seat as Piper scrutinised her, she knew exactly what Piper was thinking, the blonde was too easy to read, and it made Alex's body throb knowing she could still turn Piper on just by entering into the room.

Piper shook her head free of her dirty thoughts to look back to Alex's amused green eyes, "How can I help you, Boss?" she asked in a voice that was deeper than usual. Piper watched as the smile on Alex's face grew, "You can knock the Boss shit off for a starters, the others are taking the piss when they call me that" Alex replied with a small chuckle. Piper nodded and smiled while pushing her hair behind her ears, "You were right" Alex suddenly said. Piper frowned in confusion, "I was?" she asked warily. Alex sighed in frustration and shrugged, "I was ignoring you and being an asshole". Piper had not expected those words from Alex as she knew the dark haired woman never liked to admit when she was in the wrong. Wow! Piper thought feeling amazed by the turn in events, "Why?" Piper asked quietly. Alex pursed her lips and stared at the blonde, Why?! Because you hurt me more than anyone ever has and I'm still not fucking over you after eight years! Alex's mind screamed, out loud she said "I was in shock and didn't know how to handle you suddenly being here after all this time" she admitted. Piper nodded in understanding, "Does this mean you're done ignoring me?" Piper asked hopefully. Alex rolled her eyes, "I'm here aren't I?" Piper smiled widely at this as a warm wave of happiness engulfed her body, "Though I am here on business" Alex added draining a little of Piper's new found happiness. "Oh ok, is everything all right?" Piper asked cautiously hoping she hadn't done anything wrong to warrant the visit from Alex. Alex nodded, "Everything's great actually, Nicky was just telling me about how you've set up a website for the store as well as a twitter account and Facebook page. I'm impressed" Alex admitted. Piper swelled with pride at the acknowledgment, "Thanks. To be honest I don't understand why the previous manager hadn't already done it, it's free publicity and advertising, we already have followers on twitter", "We do?" Alex asked. Piper nodded quickly "I'm doing a small profile on each employee every day with a photo and uploading it to both social media sites with a link to our main website. Today I've done Yoga Jones's profile and we've already had three people call asking to join her night class". Admiration filled Alex has she looked at Piper, "That's fantastic Chapman". At hearing Alex refer to her by her surname more of Piper's happiness at Alex coming to her first dwindled; it was blatantly obvious that is was no more than a business call and Piper felt disappointed by this.

"I have some fucking excellent news to share with you but it's strictly confidential at the moment, it stays in this room" Alex said excitedly, her eyes shining like they used to after she had pulled of a successful run with the cartel. Piper straightened in her seat and leaned forward to fold her arms on top of her desk, she could feel the excitement vibrating off of Alex and she was very intrigued by it. "Okay, it won't go any further" Piper stated, Alex looked at Piper sceptically and arched a brow at her. Alex knew the blonde couldn't hold her own water when it came to secrets; she had ruined more than one surprise in the past when they had been together because she couldn't keep her mouth closed due to excitement. "I promise" Piper said seeing the doubt on Alex's face. "Not even Holly, Chapman. Not until Friday at least" Alex warned with a smirk, purposely saying Polly's name wrong. "I won't tell Polly or anyone else" Piper chuckled knowing Alex knew her best friends name "Come on, spill Al". As the old nickname spilled from Piper's mouth Alex stiffened in her seat, no one but her Mom and Piper had ever called her Al and hearing it after so many years felt like someone had punched Alex in the chest, she looked into Piper's wide eyes and could see that the blonde knew she had being over familiar with Alex. "I'm…I…" Piper began to stutter, Alex shrugged nonchalantly "No biggie Chapman" Alex interrupted Piper needing to get back to business. "Carmen Matthews" Alex said with a victorious smile, Piper sat up in her seat at the name. "You know who she is?" Alex asked, "Of course! She's amazing, I love her books" Piper exclaimed. Carmen Matthews was the author of four bestselling books as well as a number of other books, when her books hit the shelves in stores they sold out within a day, they were on everyone's "must read" lists and it was rumoured that her current best seller was being adapted into a screen play, Carmen avoided publicity at all costs she refused to do interviews or promote her work and was known to be a diva. Yes Piper knew who Carmen was, what she didn't know was why Alex was sat looking like the cat that had finally got the canary. "I've persuaded Carmen Matthews to attend a mid-night release of her new book here at New Chapter" Alex said smugly. "No fucking way!" Piper yelled while slamming her hands face down onto her desk, "Way" Alex replied with a huge smile plastered on her face. "How the hell have you managed that?" Piper asked in awe. Alex smirked and raised her eyebrows while taking her glasses off and folding them together, she tapped her glasses onto her mouth and ran her tongue along her bottom row of teeth "She's a …friend" Alex replied, purring out the word friend leaving no illusion as to what type of friend Carmen was. Piper couldn't stop the surge of jealously that surfaced as Alex spoke, she knew exactly what type of "friend" Carmen was and she didn't like it at all, Piper had admired Carmen's author photo plenty of times and knew the woman was gorgeous which made Piper even more jealous. The excitement Piper had felt previous at knowing the famous author was going to be at the store quickly vanished "Oh" Piper said coldly and leaned back in her seat.

Alex watched the rapid change in Piper's attitude and felt a ripple of satisfaction at seeing jealousy rage in Piper's blue eyes. Looks like I'm not the only one still harbouring some feelings, Alex thought feeling pleased. "The release date is two weeks on Friday, which means we need to put this thing together fast. I need you to work some magic and get everything organised, if you run into any probl…" "I can do it" Piper interrupted Alex, determination hardening her voice. "I know you can. I have faith in you" Alex said softly, wanting Piper to know that she trusted her with her business. Piper looked into Alex's green eyes and saw the truth in what she had said, Piper smiled and relaxed her jealously seeping away as she realised she was earning Alex's approval with her work. "Thank you" Piper replied, Alex nodded and cleared her throat. "Anything else?" Piper asked wanting Alex to stay longer in her office, "Yeah" Alex answered "Once a month the staff from my businesses get together for drinks and usually a BBQ, it helps everyone get to know each other and boosts moral. When a new starter enters the fold it's a rule that they host the get together at their house, it's a rule that Nichols made up after I opened my third business it shows trust in each other and all that other bullshit. Any way you're the new starter this month so the get together is at your place" Alex explained. Piper sat in her chair and stared at Alex "Does it have to be?" she asked hoping Alex was joking, "Yup" Alex replied. "How many people are we talking about here? And when?", Alex shrugged "Not sure on numbers but there's usually over twenty that come and it's a week on Sunday". "Alex! That's only twelve days away! I don't even know if I can fit more than twenty people in my home!", Alex grinned at this and laughed. "I'm being serious" Piper whined, "Look just go with it Chapman, put out some snacks and a few bottles of beer and you'll be fine. People fetch their own stuff to these things; you just have to open up your home ok?" Piper nodded reluctantly knowing she had no say in the matter and needed to accept her fate. "Good" Alex said reading the acceptance on Piper's face, Alex put on her glasses then slowly stood up from her seat "Keep me updated on anything Carmen related, I gave her agent your email address so you can sort things out between you both. Knowing Carmen she'll have some crazy ass demands, agree to the ones you think are acceptable and tell her to go fuck herself over the ones that aren't". Piper laughed as Alex spoke "Got it" she said, Alex turned to walk out of the office then stopped to look over her shoulder "Oh and a tip for the door knocking problem, just leave the office door open that way you can hear the others walk down the hallway which gives you a few seconds to prepare yourself for whatever drama they have. They'll never knock so you have to get used to it, though if you really do need your privacy lock the door that way they know not to disturb you" Alex explained. Piper smiled in appreciation "Thanks for the advice". Alex started to leave again when Piper called out, "Alex!" Piper knew without a doubt that she was about to cross a line with what she wanted to ask, sure Alex wasn't ignoring her anymore but she knew the other woman wouldn't appreciate her asking questions about her personal life but Piper had to know, the same question had been running through her mind ever since she had entered Alex's office on her first day at New Chapter. Piper looked at Alex as she stood in the doorway of her office leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest waiting for Piper to speak, "When did you get out?" Piper asked. Alex pushed off of the wall to stand up straight, dropping her arms to her sides and raised her chin, she knew Piper was referring to the Cartel and had been waiting for the question. She wanted to be mad at Piper for probing into her life again like she had on her first day, but Alex wasn't mad in fact she wanted to answer Piper's question. She knew the cartel was the main reason that Piper had left her and she wanted the younger woman to know that she was completely out of the drug business, "A long time ago" Alex answered. "How?" Piper asked she knew that people only left the cartel either in a body bag or in cuffs and Alex was in neither. Alex fiddled with her glasses then looked Piper in the eye, "Kubra and Farhi died in a car accident, their vehicle went careening off of a cliff in Spain. With them gone it was just me that knew the ropes of the business and the contacts so I sold everything off. Made a fuck load of money in the process, the others either joined rival cartels or went straight" Alex said with a shrug. "God! I'm so sorry Alex, I know how close you were to them". Alex shook her head "We weren't towards the end but fuck it" Alex replied not caring to elaborate, she didn't want Piper to know how that she had been heavily into drugs by that point and that before the accident there had been rumours of Kubra wanting rid of Alex as he had found out she was using the product she imported for him. The two women stood staring at each other both wanting the other to say more so Alex didn't leave; Piper had a dozen questions she wanted to ask but didn't want to push things with the other woman. "I best get back to work" Alex said, Piper nodded and watched as Alex walked away from her office and across the hallway to her own.

As Alex shut her office door behind her she sighed and rested her forehead onto its wooden surface, for their first real conversation in eight years it hadn't gone too bad. No one had yelled, cried or threw anything which was exactly how things could have gone if they had gone off of the topic of business. Piper had only hurt Alex once throughout the whole ordeal and Alex had realised that Piper still felt something towards her after witnessing her jealously. That wasn't has hard as I thought it would be, Alex thought as she stood up from leaning against her door and walked towards her desk to begin her work.

On her lunch break Piper walked to the café in the store and leant across the counter, the place was slightly busier than it had been the few days that Piper had already worked and she hoped that it was down to her advertising New Chapter on the internet. Piper smiled at Nichols who was working behind the counter, "What can I get for ya Blondie?" Nicky asked as she handed a customer their order then walked over to Piper. "Ham salad sandwich please" Piper replied "It's busy in here today" Piper said to Nicky. Nicky nodded and began to make Piper's lunch, "Yeah it's always a little busier when baby book club is on, some parents sit in here and drink coffee while their off spring sings songs together" Nicky laughed. "Baby book club is on?" Piper asked excitedly, she had expected to witness the group in action the previous week and was disappointed when Yoga Jones had told her that it had been cancelled that week and didn't know why. Nicky nodded in reply and smirked "Oh yea, go check it out. Your lunch will be ready when you get back, you want a drink with this?" she asked, "A bottle of water thanks" Piper answered then pushed off of the café counter to head towards the All Sorts room. As she walked closer to the room she heard a familiar voice singing a nursery rhyme, she had heard that voice countless times as it had echoed out of their shower or hummed along to a song when they were in the car, Piper had loved hearing Alex sing when they had been together it had always made the hair rise on her arms as Alex's deep husky tone would wrap itself around her and draw her in, but she never thought in a million years that she would hear that voice sing twinkle, twinkle little star. When Piper reached the All Sorts room she peered around the open door and witnessed a sight she wouldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams, Alex was sat on the floor on soft mats with her legs crossed, surrounded by a group of babies and toddlers with a puppet on her hand singing at the top of her voice while pulling funny faces at the kids. What the actual fuck, Piper thought as she watched a little girl climb into Alex's lap and grab a handful of hair to play with, Is this really happening? The Alex that she knew had hated kids, whenever someone had tried to get Alex to hold their child, which wasn't often as people knew how Alex felt about children, Alex would pull a face and hold the child out at arm's length like she was about to catch some deadly disease.

Piper continued to watch as Alex began to read a book to the group; she made up different voices for the characters which earned giggles from the older kids and spoke in a soft voice that Piper hadn't heard from the older woman before. Piper was amazed by this new softer side of Alex, she had thought that Alex was exactly like she had been eight years ago with finding her hung over in hallways and passed out on couches, but she was quickly realising that she was wrong that Alex had changed more than Piper could imagine. Piper felt a flutter in her chest as she watched Alex cuddle the little girl in her lap while she read to the group, when Alex had finished the story and told everyone that is was time for the last song Piper slipped away from the room and walked back to the cafe feeling stunned. Piper didn't know how to react to seeing this new side of Alex, Alex wasn't meant to be soft and caring she was meant to stay exactly as she had been! Piper slumped into a seat at the café counter and jumped when Nicky shoved her sandwich in front of her, "Baby book club has that effect on me too, god knows why Vause does it twice a week. Kids give me the creeps" Nicky said thinking Piper was disturbed by all of the children. "No it isn't the kids" Piper admitted while lifting her head to look at Nicky "Its Alex, I mean she's in there singing to babies! Alex would never do that!" Piper explained. Nicky smirked seeing an opportunity to get some information out of Piper about her past with Alex. "What was she like when you knew her before?" Nicky asked, "She was hard and manipulative, she would fuck anyone over to get what she wanted and she always got what she wanted" Piper stated. Nicky nodded "Still sounds like Vause" Nicky said. "No that Alex in there that isn't the Alex that I knew" Piper admitted while shaking her head. Nicky nodded at this and looked at Piper; Piper swallowed and leant on the counter to bring her face closer to Nicky's "What did she say to you?" Piper asked wanting to know what Alex had told Nicky about her. Nicky sighed and shook her head "Wouldn't you like to know" she replied, "Yes, I would" Piper stated. Nicky brought her face even closer to Piper's and whispered "She said you were a squirter", Piper gasped at this and leant away from Nicky "I don't…that's…" Piper stuttered and shook her head "Once, it happened once and it took us both by surprise!" Piper stated. Nicky widened her eyes in amusement and grinned widely at Piper "Wow! I was kidding" she said "But good to know", "OOHHHH" Piper gasped realising Nicky had tricked her. Nicky chuckled at Piper "Whatever they are she's keeping your secrets, but I'll get em outta you more than once" Nicky said with a smirk. Piper looked at Nicky in confusion "She hasn't said anything to you about me?" she asked, "Nada" Nicky replied, "Oh" Piper said. "But you two have a shitty history right?" Nicky asked, Piper nodded "You could say that". "Well you seem to know Vause better than I do, so do you think she would broadcast whatever happened between you guys?" Nicky asked, Piper shook her head knowing that Alex liked her private life to be exactly that, private. "Then stop worrying ya pretty little head over what Vause is saying about you" Nicky advised, Piper nodded and picked up her lunch from the counter "You're right, thanks Nichols. Erm, could you not tell Alex that I saw her in baby book club". Nicky shrugged "Whatever you want Blondie" she replied, Piper smiled gratefully and walked away with her lunch and back to her office. A part of Piper was glad that Alex wasn't talking about her to the other staff while the other part felt rather indignant at the fact that she wasn't important enough to be mentioned to Nichols who was obviously Alex's best friend, Piper entered her office and sat in front of her desk to eat her lunch. She mulled over Alex and how she had been with the children, she imagined Alex sat in a rocking chair in a nursery with a blonde haired little baby sitting on her knee while she softly sang lullabies to the child on her lap, she imagined walking over to the two and sitting on the floor beside them listening to Alex as she sang and occasionally joining in. Piper was lulled into the fantasy as she ate her lunch but when she realised what she was doing she quickly gave herself a shake to rid herself of the dangerous thoughts, she couldn't afford to fantasise about Alex and babies she was getting married in a matter of weeks! With that thought in her head Piper brushed aside her fantasy and finished her lunch while going over the seating plan for her wedding reception.

XXX

Thursday evening Piper sat in her office watching the time on her computer, she read 17:45 and knew that any minute now Nichols would be at her door telling her to leave as they closed early on Thursday's, but Piper had a plan to find out exactly what the big secret to Thursday's was about that the rest of the staff at New Chapter didn't want her to know. As she had predicted Nichols appeared at her door, "I'm just shutting everything down Nichols, I'll be out in less than five minutes" Piper said. Nicky chuckled "Good to know, see ya tomorrow Chapman" Nicky said then walked away from Piper's office door, "Goodnight" Piper called out after her. Piper quickly shut down her computer and gathered her belongings, she stood up from her desk chair and walked out of her office and closed the door behind her but instead of walking out of the STAFF ONLY door Piper entered the stockroom and quietly closed the door behind her. She planned to hide in the room for a while then creep out and see what the others were up to; she hoped no one would notice that the bell over the door hadn't rung to signal her leaving the store and hoped that once she did finally find out the big secret was she could make it out of the store without any witnesses. Piper hid behind a stack of boxes just in case anyone did happen to walk into the stockroom for anything and waited patiently, "Has Chapman left?" she heard Alex ask from outside of the door, "Yup" she heard Nicky reply "She was all ready when I went to kick her out", "She didn't argue with you this week?" she heard Alex ask, "No she just left" she heard Nicky answer. The voices drifted away as Piper hid behind the boxes, she knew what she was doing was immature but she felt pushed out and wanted to be included in what the other women were doing and it was the only way she could think of to find out what it was that they did. Piper waited forty five minutes just to be sure that no one was checking that she had left the building before she moved from behind the boxes in the stockroom, she tip toed over to the door and quietly opened it a crack to listen for voices in the hallway. When she heard nothing she fully opened the door and walked out then crept towards the STAFF ONLY door, she opened the door and slid out of the hallway being careful to stay against the book shelves as she walked further into the store. As she reached the end of the book section she realised that no one was in the café area she looked around and heard quiet murmurs from the All Sorts room, Piper quietly headed towards the open All Sorts room door and stood outside and listened to what was being said she quickly recognised the person who was talking has Taystee" …So there I am topless sitting on this bulldozer like in a construction site, so I'm sitting there barbeque sauce on my titties and I'm like what the fuck again? And then I look down…" Piper moved closer to the door as Taystee spoke trying to understand what the woman was talking about "…And I see a er… there's this dude down on the ground with his head by like the tyre and then I look close and I recognised that it was the bum from the night before that was hollering at me outside of Pizzeria Uno, and when I look closer I see the dude is wearing my shirt and he's got barbeque sauce all over his face and he's…" Piper craned her neck to hear what Taystee was about to say next "…He's dead. And that's when I knew it was time to make a change, thank you". Piper quickly realised that she was listening to some type of support group and instantly felt guilty for listening in, "Almost the same thing happened to me but it was tuna salad" she heard Crazy eyes say. "Anyone else feel like sharing today? Anybody?" she heard an unfamiliar voice ask.

"I will" Piper stiffened where she stood as she heard Alex speak, she heard movement from inside of the room and moved as close has she dared get to the door without being seen. "As you know I don't usually share but this week I feel like I should." Piper listened intently as Alex talked wondering what type of support group Alex would need to attend. "My make a change moment happened five years ago, I had been using heroin for a couple of years by this point and had no intention on stopping it helped me forget some bad shit that had happened and I thought that I was in control of my addiction" Piper leant against the wall as she realised that the group inside of the room was a narcotics anonymous support group, a heavy feeling settled in her chest as Alex spoke. No, she thought, Alex wouldn't use heroin! She has to be making it up! Piper tried to tell herself. She listened as Alex continued to talk, "I wasn't in control though, I can't remember much of what happened on the night but what I do remember is being at a party. Drugs were being passed around and I took whatever was handed to me as well as snorting my own stash with was a fuck load, I remember climbing into my car wanting to go home and taking one last hit before I set off. When I woke up the next day I was in hospital, only it wasn't the next day I was told that I'd been in a coma for three months. I'd apparently OD'd at the wheel of my car and ended up wrapping it around a lamp post, luckily no one else was hurt but I went through the window shield. When the paramedics got to me I was dead but they brought me back, I also checked out a couple of times during some surgery that I had to have due to swelling on my brain. There was no bright light like people say there is when you die, I didn't get to see my Mom again either. All I remember is darkness and a lot of fucking pain, by the time I had woken up from my coma I was clean all of the shit had gone out of my system while I was out but the looks on the nurses face's will always be etched in my mind, they looked at me like I was something they had scraped off of the bottom off their shoe and I felt like it too. Crashing my car, dying and the coma I knew I had to make a change, I couldn't carry on living how I was because if I did I wouldn't have been alive much longer there would have just being the darkness. So I made a change, I decided to get out of the business that had ruined everything good in my life. I joined this wonderful group and met you guys who have helped me so much with your stories, I thought I had lost everything when I started using but I've gained more by getting clean and I plan on staying this way. Thanks for listening" Alex said.

Piper's eyes were filled with tears by the time Alex had finished her story, she had wanted to burst into the room and tell Alex to shut up and say that she was lying, she wanted Alex to say that she hadn't started to use heroin after she left! That she hadn't been stupid enough to fucking OD and die! "That's all for tonight folks, remember stay clean and if you need to talk before next week's session ring your sponsors" Piper heard the unfamiliar voice say. Piper pushed away from the wall as she heard people move around inside of the room and quickly headed towards the book section to hide behind the shelves, she watched as the women walked out of the All Sorts room and headed towards the exit of the store. She recognised Taystee, Tricia, Crazy eyes and Nichols as they walked out of the store with the others. Alex hadn't left the room and Piper was hoping that she was by herself, Piper slipped out of the book section of the store and headed back towards the All Sorts room but instead of hiding outside of the room like she had before she stood in the door way and watched, with tears blurring her vision, as Alex tidied up the room.

Alex swiftly finished tidying the room then turned to leave; she stopped in her tracks as she saw Piper stood in the doorway watching her. "What the fuck!" Alex exclaimed, she noticed the tears swimming in Piper's eyes and knew the blonde had heard what she had said during her group session. "You started to use" Piper stated, Alex raised her chin, "You fucking died!" Piper sobbed in despair as she walked into the room. Alex took a step towards Piper and shrugged "You weren't supposed to hear that" Alex admitted, "Seriously! That's all you have to say?" Piper yelled "What the fuck were you thinking Alex!?". Alex pushed back her shoulders "I wasn't thinking that was the whole fucking point!" Alex yelled back "It stopped the pain of my Mom dying and you abandoning me! So don't you dare come in here thinking I owe you a fucking explanation because I don't! I owe you nothing! You left! You left me alone with no one else to turn to when my Mom had just died!". "So it was my fault you started to use?!" Piper yelled back, "Did I say that? Fuck me; you still think everything is about you! I chose to take the drugs to forget about everything! It was my choice! No one made me do it! Yeah I fucked up and ended up dying because of it but I'm still here and I'm a better person for it!" Piper shook her head the tears in her eyes flowing down her cheeks, "But you died" she sobbed. Alex sighed; she wanted to walk over to Piper and take her in her arms and comfort her by telling her that everything was ok but she knew that if she did the walls that she had surrounded herself with would crumble the second she held Piper. Instead she took another step towards Piper and shrugged, "I'm still here. You know me, I'm a born survivor. There's no point going over what happened in the past, it happened and can't be changed. It's best to let it go and move on" Alex said. Piper nodded her head and wiped her eyes when Alex finished speaking, "You're right" she said quietly. "I always am" Alex said with a smirk. Piper shook her head and took a step towards Alex feeling a sudden need to be close to her, "Can I hug you?" she asked quietly. Alex inhaled deeply through her nose and backed away from Piper while gently shaking her head, "You should go home Chapman". Piper turned her head to the side to look at the wall as Alex's rejection hit her, she wiped her cheeks free of the moisture left behind by her tears "I'm sorry I left Al…" Piper began to say, "Don't" Alex growled interrupting Piper before she could finish her apology "Leave it in the past Chapman" Alex warned. Piper nodded "Okay" she whispered then turned to leave, as she reached the door she looked over her shoulder to take once last look at Alex before she left. Alex smiled reassuringly at the blonde wanting to show Piper that they were ok "See you in the morning" Alex said, "Goodnight Al" Piper said purposely calling Alex by her old nickname then left the All Sorts room. Piper knew that she was a big part of the reason that Alex had started using heroin and she didn't like how that made her feel, she wanted to scream and curse at Alex for using but knew it wouldn't do any good. She knew that Alex was right she needed to let go of what she had found out that night and leave it in the past but as Piper left New Chapter to go home to Larry, she vowed that somehow she was going to find a way to make things up to Alex for leaving her when she had needed her the most, she was going to try and break down the walls that the older woman had erected around her and try and get to know Alex Vause once again.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Piper gathered all of the staff in the café of New Chapter for a staff meeting. She stood in front of the group of women with Alex by her side; the two women hadn't acknowledged what had happened the previous night after the narcotic anonymous meeting, Alex wanted her past left firmly where it was and Piper didn't want to bring up the past and push Alex further away so they had both individually decided that they weren't going to bring it up to the other and continue like they had before Piper had decided to play detective.

"Why are we all here? We ain't never had a staff meeting before" Taystee said confusedly while looking around at the rest of the women who nodded and murmured in agreement, "We have an announcement to make and it's easier if we do this now together rather than tell you all individually" Piper answered, glancing at Alex beside her as she spoke. Alex nodded then tilted her head towards the women in front of them which Piper took to mean that she should carry on with the meeting, "In two weeks' time we will be hosting a mid-night release here at New Chapter" Piper said to which the staff mumbled and shuffled around in front of her, Piper inhaled deeply and braced herself before she gave the rest of the information to the staff. She knew that the news she was about to give them was a huge deal and could only imagine how the rest of the women were going to react, "Carmen Matthews has agreed to attend…" Piper didn't get to finish what she was saying as Taystee suddenly squealed in glee, "Carmen fucking Matthews is coming here?! To New Chapter?!" Taystee exclaimed. The rest of the women stared at Piper and Alex for confirmation, Piper grinned widely and nodded "Yes" she answered. Taystee squealed again as the other women all broke into shouts and screams of excitement. "No fucking way!", "Oh my god I can't believe it! I seriously can't!", "I think I just peed myself!" Were all called out at once. Alex laughed at her staff and leaned sideways towards Piper "You think they're excited?" she asked with a chuckle, Piper snorted and giggled as she watched the women in front of them talk to each other excitedly. "How? Like seriously how did you get Carmen fucking Matthews to come here?" Nicky asked Piper, Piper shrugged while shaking her head "I can't take the credit for that, that was all down to Alex" she admitted. Nicky whipped her head around to look at Alex "You fucked her! Am I right or am I right?" Nicky laughed. Piper squirmed next to Alex as the dark haired woman burst into laughter, Piper didn't want to think about how Alex may have persuaded the author to do what she wanted, it bothered her immensely thinking about Alex with another woman so Piper was living in denial and telling herself that Alex had just asked the author nicely and Carmen had accepted. "I'll never tell" Alex replied with a smirk making Piper tense beside her, Nicky turned to look at Poussey and grinned "She totally fucked her" she said. Poussey shrugged "I don't give a fuck HOW she did it, I just want to meet Carmen! She is beaut man, olive skin and that shiny black hair. Jeeeesus!" Nicky nodded along as Poussey spoke, "So how is this going down?" Taystee asked.

Piper explained to the women how she was going to advertise tickets to the event over the weekend on the store's website and social media pages, then come eight AM Monday morning she was going to make sixty tickets available for sale, she told the staff that they would be working the night of the release but that they could have two tickets per person for family or friends. When the group moaned at only being allowed two tickets each Piper told them that if they wanted more tickets than they would have to buy them when the tickets were up for sale as there were only a limited number available. She explained how they were going to host the event in the café area so people could browse through the books and order food or drinks as they waited to have their books signed by the author, Piper then told the staff that because they would be working into the early hours of Saturday morning that they weren't going to open the store that day which meant they would have the full weekend off, the women cheered in happiness at this and nudged each other with huge smiles on their faces.

After Piper had finished telling the staff about the event the women broke away as a group from Alex and Piper talking excitedly amongst themselves, "That went down well" Alex said as she turned on her heel to walk towards the **STAFF ONLY **door with Piper following by her side, Piper nodded "Sure did, I thought Taystee was going to burst my ear drums with her squealing" Piper chuckled. Alex laughed as they approached the **STAFF ONLY **door "Well now the real work starts, think you're ready for it Chapman?" Alex asked already knowing that Piper was more than capable of dealing with the event and Carmen Matthews. Piper breathed in deeply then let her breathe out slowly through her mouth, she felt slightly nervous at the daunting tasks ahead of her "I guess we're about to find out" she answered then headed to her office to start her day at work.

XXX

The next week flew by for Piper; she had advertised the tickets for the mid-night release and had a crazy amount of people wanting to buy them. When she had finally made the tickets available on the Monday morning they had sold out within the hour, when there were no tickets left people began to call the store begging and pleading for a ticket, they tried to bribe the blonde with gifts, fancy dinners and bouquets of flowers, some had even tried to flirt with Piper for a spare ticket but the blonde refused any types of bribery, she made it clear to everyone that once the tickets were sold out that was it there would be no more for grabs. By Saturday Piper had had enough of the begging emails and phone calls from people so she decided to disconnect the phone in her office and emailed everyone in her business contacts telling them that she could only be reached by her cell until further notice.

Piper sat behind her desk with her eyes closed rubbing at her temples trying to relax herself, she sighed deeply and moaned as the tension in her head began to ease, she didn't realise that she was been watched from the doorway of her office. Alex stood in the threshold of Piper's office and watched the blonde for a few seconds, she had noticed how stressed Piper had been the past couple of days, she had wanted to help the younger woman but knew that if she had tried to help Piper would have taken it has though Alex thought she couldn't deal with the event and that was the last thing Alex wanted Piper to think, Alex thought the blonde was doing amazingly well in all aspects of running New Chapter and she didn't want to stand on Piper's toes in any way.

Alex watched as Piper continued to rub at her temples while moaning. _I need to get laid, _Alex thought as her body began to pulse with desire as Piper's moans grew louder, she licked her lips and inhaled deeply trying to stop the desire that was invading her body. As Piper moaned again Alex was flooded with arousal, _What the fuck is wrong with me? She doesn't even sound sexual she sounds in pain! _Alex thought. Alex knew how to ease the tension from the blonde and she had to internally fight with herself to not walk over to stand behind Piper and massage her shoulders, as much as she didn't want to see the younger woman stressed Alex didn't want to cross the line that she had marked out between herself and Piper, she knew that if she did there would be no turning back for her. Alex leaned against the door frame with her shoulder and watched Piper for a couple more seconds, when Piper moaned again Alex cleared her throat loudly causing Piper's eyes to snap open. Piper broke into a wide toothy smile when she saw that it was Alex that was stood at her door, her eyes sparkled brightly as she looked at the dark haired woman, she moved her hands down the sides of her face and rested her chin in her palms. "Hey" Alex said while smiling back at Piper, her heart thumped in her chest with how Piper reacted to seeing her at her door, "Hey yourself" Piper replied her smile growing impossibly wider as she greeted Alex. "Everything ok?" Alex asked "You seem a little tense", Piper sighed and rolled her eyes while dropping her hands to rest on her desk "It's been one of them weeks ya know?". Alex chuckled at this and pushed off of the door frame, she walked into Piper's office and watched Piper as the blonde's eyes brightened as she sat down in a chair that was in front of Piper's desk. "That bad?" Alex asked with a small grin on her face, "You have no idea Al" Piper said.

Hearing Piper call her Al didn't make Alex tense up and didn't hurt her anymore, Piper had taken to calling Alex by her old nickname since the day after the narcotics anonymous meeting and Alex was getting comfortable with hearing the name slip from the blonde's mouth. Piper knew that by using the nickname it would make the older woman relax around her and Piper used it at every available opportunity, she had watched all week as Alex had softened her attitude towards her, the dark haired woman smiled at her when she greeted her in the mornings now and even made small talk when they were alone. Piper clung to the small progress she was making with Alex but what she didn't know was that Alex was very aware of the blonde was doing and was still making sure not to get too pulled in by Piper and was still trying to keep some distance between them.

"People just can't seem to take no for an answer" Piper continued to say "I have had people begging all week for more tickets to be available but…", "Ahhhh" Alex said interrupting Piper as she spoke, the older woman ran her tongue along her bottom teeth and smiled guiltily at Piper. "Ahhhh what?" Piper asked while eyeing Alex suspiciously, Alex shrugged and avoided looking into Piper's eyes "I came to ask if there were any ticke…". "Don't you fucking dare ask for another ticket Alex Vause. I will throw something at you, something heavy and I will not miss" Piper warned, Alex looked at Piper in shock then burst into laughter she leant forward in her chair and smirked at the woman sat across from her, "Wow that was… wow" Alex said while still laughing. Piper smiled crookedly at Alex and chuckled "Sorry I've just had a lot of people asking for tickets. What did you do with the two that I gave you?" Piper asked, Alex slouched back in her seat and raised her foot from the floor and rested it on her knee. "I sold them on EBay" Alex admitted with a cheeky grin, "You did what?!" Piper exclaimed, "What? It was a great business opportunity; I made a huge fucking profit. Only problem is, is that now my friend has heard about the event and she wants to come". "Your friend?" Piper asked sceptically as a trace of jealousy worked its way into her system; Alex licked her lips and grinned in reply. "And why didn't this "friend" buy a ticket when they were available?" Piper asked, Alex shrugged and pursed her lips "She's from England, I didn't think she was going to be in town anytime soon so I didn't tell her about the event but she's here now and she really wants to go". Piper shrugged and shook her head "Sorry we are all sold out" she replied sweetly, Alex smirked amusedly at Piper's tone of voice "There's not even one ticket spare?" she asked. Piper shook her head again and grinned smugly at being able to tell Alex no to getting her friend a ticket "Nota one", Alex sighed in defeat but continued to smile as she could see the victorious glint in Piper's eyes. _Ok little Miss Cocky let's see how smug you are in a minute, _Alex thought knowing that Piper was enjoying telling her no. Alex sighed dramatically "Well JJ is not going to be pleased" she said in fake concern, Piper scoffed at the name and smiled amusedly while furrowing her brow "JJ?". "Hmmm" Alex replied and nodded "Jossalyn James" Alex added with a triumphant smile, she watched as the smile dropped from Piper's face. "J…J… Jossalyn James the movie star?" Piper stutteringly asked, "Yea" Alex answered with glee. "Your friend is Jossalyn James?" Piper asked, Alex smirked and arched a brow. "How… I mean…" Piper sat and stared at Alex in astonishment, not only was Alex "friends" with a famous author but also a movie star; Piper couldn't even begin to process the information given to her, she wanted to cry in jealousy but breathed in deeply to gain control of her emotions. _A fucking movie star! _Piper internally screamed, _She's actually fucking a movie star! _The blonde's mind raged.

Alex grinned in amusement at Piper's perplexed expression; she chuckled lightly making Piper snap out of her momentary daze. "I don't care who you're fucking, there still aren't any tickets available" Piper snapped coldly unable to mask her emotional turmoil. The amusement dropped from Alex immediately at Piper's declaration, she dropped her foot to the floor and straightened in her seat. "It's fine, she'll understand" Alex said wanting to defuse the situation she had put herself in, Piper scoffed at this while avoiding looking at Alex. Alex watched as the blonde looked absently around her office, she could see Piper slightly flaring her nostrils in anger. _Fuck I've pissed her off, that wasn't supposed to happen, _Alex thought but she felt secretly pleased at knowing that Piper was still jealous over her being with someone else. "Is there anything else that you wanted? Maybe a ticket for a musician friend? Or an athlete friend?" Piper asked mockingly, Alex shook her head "You sound like a jealous ex" she stated. Alex watched as Piper's shoulders slumped at her words, Piper looked at Alex with glistening eyes. "I'm not…" the blonde began to say then trailed off, "You're not what?" Alex asked, Piper opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water not knowing how to reply to Alex's statement because she couldn't deny that she was jealous.

"Was there anything else?" the younger woman asked quietly, Alex sighed "Yeah, I wanted to know if you had everything sorted for tomorrow" Alex asked. Piper frowned and racked her brain for what Alex could be talking about but came up empty "Tomorrow?" she asked blankly, "Staff get together, tomorrow at your place" Alex said filling in the blanks for the younger woman, "Shit!" Piper exclaimed. "You forgot" Alex stated while nodding her head, "Fuck! Yeees" Piper admitted guiltily "With organising everything for next week it just slipped my mind, Fuck!", Alex laughed lightly and smiled reassuringly at Piper. "It's ok, we've had to rustle up last minute get togethers before, just give Nichols your address before you leave and she'll let everyone know a time and she'll come early and get everything sorted before people arrive. Usually we start these things at about one but they never last beyond six because some of them will be working that night, you just need to make sure that there are a lot of places to sit down. Me and Nicky will see to the rest", "Thank you" Piper said appreciatively "I can't believe I forgot! I can't even remember if I 've told Larry!" Alex shrugged at this and stiffened in her chair, she didn't like to think of Piper's fiancé and had avoided any conversations where he was mentioned, she didn't like the thought of meeting the guy that was betrothed to her ex but knew that it was bound to happen the next day. "It's not a problem, like I said we've done this before" Alex said in a steely tone "Anyway I'm calling it a day, you should too. Go home, take a hot bath and relax" Alex advised Piper making her visibly relax at the suggestion. Piper nodded in agreement "Sounds like heaven" she said while rolling her eyes back into her head, Alex grinned in reply and stood up from her seat "Right, guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow" Alex said. Piper smiled and nodded her head "You will", "Don't forget to give Nicky your address before you leave" Alex reminded Piper, making the younger woman smile wider "I won't, I promise" she replied. Alex nodded and looked at Piper, Piper looked back and sighed "I'm sorry about before, the way that I reacted… I just… I'm sorry", Alex shrugged "Ok" she replied, "Ok?" Piper asked, "Yeah ok" Alex said not wanting to leave Piper's office with any remaining drama between them both. The two women gazed at each other for a few moments, both trying to figure out what the other was thinking, "Bye Chapman" Alex said when she realised that Piper wasn't going to give anything else away as to how she was feeling that night, "Bye Al" Piper replied as Alex turned and walked out of her office.

As Alex walked down the hallway towards the **STAFF ONLY** door she pulled out her cell from her back pocket and scrolled through her contacts, when she reached the number she wanted she hit the green call button and raised her cell to her ear "JJ it's Lex, cancel any plans you have tonight. We're going out to dinner" Alex said then hung up the call without waiting for a reply. Alex felt like she needed to take her mind off of everything that had just happened in Piper's office and from the guaranteed meeting with Piper's fiancé at the staff get together the next day, she couldn't predict what would happen when she did meet the guy and it bothered her not being in control of the situation. What she needed was a night of fun and Alex couldn't think of a better way to distract herself with than a night with her long term lover.

XXX

Piper stood in her living room nervously rearranging the cushions on her couch for the third time, she couldn't get the cushions to plump up how she liked and at that moment the plumpness of the cushions was extremely important to Piper, she thought that if she didn't get the cushions right then the whole staff get together would be ruined. She had been frantically rushing around the house all morning trying to make her house look presentable, which was easy as there was never a thing out of place, but to Piper the place looked like a bomb had hit it and she felt an incessant need to clean and rearrange everything before her guests arrived.

Piper bent to pick up one of the cushions and was about to try once again to rearrange her couch when Larry walked into the living room, Piper stopped what she was doing and stared at her fiancé in horror. "No. No Larry! How many times do I have to tell you not to wear brown shoes with black trousers? Sweetie, please go change and put on some damn socks! Jesus!", Larry looked down at his foot wear with a frown "Pipes there's nothing wrong with what I'm wearing" Larry whined. "I can see your ankles Larry! Please just do what I say before…" Piper was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell to her home. "Shit! They're here; I'll answer the door you try and do something with your trousers, pull them down or something, Fuck!" Piper said when the doorbell rang again; Larry walked over to Piper and put his hands on her shoulders "Sweetie your work colleagues are not going to care about the cushions or which way we put the toilet roll on the holder. Relax, take a deep breath. Everything is going to be fine" Larry said in a gentle tone, Piper smiled appreciatively at her fiancé and nodded. When the doorbell rang again Piper sighed "I'm surprised they haven't just walked in" she mumbled then stepped away from Larry and started to walk out of the living room, when she reached the threshold she turned and pointed to Larry's trousers "Please try and hide your ankles at least" she said then went to answer the front door.

When Piper opened the front door she was met by an impatient Nicky "For fuck sake Blondie it took you long enough" Nicky complained, "Great to see you too Nichols" Piper replied while looking over the shorter blonde's shoulder. Stood behind Nicky on the stoop was a tall, African American woman with long, blonde hair, next to her stood Tricia and the woman that had tried to come on to Piper at New Chapter. "Hi" Piper said to the woman that she had never met before, "Oh yeah, this is Sophia you've already met Miller and Boo" Nicky said introducing the women she was with. "Whatup College" Tricia said greeting Piper. "Are you gonna let us in so we can set up Doll?" Sophia asked Piper, "Oh yes sorry" Piper said and opened her front door wider for the women to enter.

Twenty minutes later Piper's home and small garden was kitted out with everything needed for a party, Nicky had brought over a dozen coolers filled with different meats and two portable BBQs while Boo had fetched crate after crate of beer and spirits, Tricia had fetched her decks which she had set up in the garden while reassuring Piper that she wouldn't play the music too loud and Sophia had begun to mix cocktails for when people arrived. When everything was set up to how Nicky wanted it she walked over to Piper, who had been pushed aside with Larry and told to stay out of the way until they had finished, "we're all set Blondie, people will start to show up any minute now so get ready for the invasion. Who's the wall flower?" Nicky asked while nodding in Larry's direction. Larry smiled cheerfully and held out his hand for Nicky to shake "I'm Larry, Piper's fiancé" he said introducing himself, Nicky looked at Larry's outstretched hand then back to his face, she grinned widely and shook her head, before Nicky could make a witty reply the doorbell rang "Saved by the bell Barry" Nicky laughed then turned to answer the door. "It's Larry" Larry called out to Nicky's back "Has she gone to answer our door?" Larry asked Piper, Piper nodded "Yeeea, she's like that" she answered. When Nicky re-entered the room she was followed by three other women who were carrying food trays covered with tin foil, "Chapman, Barry…" "Larry" Larry said interrupting Nicky, "Dude that's what I said" Nicky replied. "Anyways these lovely ladies are Red, Gina and Norma. They work in one of Vause's restaurants" Nicky explained. "Nice to meet you, I'm Larry" Larry said while holding out his hand to Red, Red glanced at his hand then looked at Nicky. "He seems to do that a lot" Nicky explained while shrugging, "Make your hands useful and take these trays of food from my girls" Red ordered in a thick Russian accent, Larry quickly took the trays from the women and left the room to put them in the kitchen. "Red, this is Blondie aka Chapman. She's the new manager at New Chapter", "Ahhh so you are the one that is organising the author's book release" Red said while skimming her eyes over Piper making the blonde feel a little intimidated. Piper sighed and nodded, _Please don't ask for a ticket, _she thought not knowing how she would tell the woman in front of her no. Red scoffed "I don't know why my daughter chose this author, to me she is rubbish. I don't see the big fuss" Red said, Piper frowned and looked at Nicky "Daughter?" she asked, "Talk to me Blondie if you want to ask something not Nicky" Red ordered. Piper tensed up and quickly turned her head to look at Red "Sorry, but who is your daughter?" she asked confused, Red puffed out her chest in pride and raised her chin "Alex, also Nicky. They are my girls" Red said in a soft maternal tone. Piper's eyes widen at this and she shook her head "Erm… I…", "Red is kind of our adopted Mom, she orders me and Vause around and nags us to death when we don't do what she wants" Nicky explained with a chuckle, Larry re-joined the group as Nicky finished her explanation. "Who nags who?" he asked with a smile while sliding his arm around Piper's waist. Nicky watched Larry as he pulled Piper into his body and smiled amusedly "I was just telling Chapman how Mommy here likes to tell me and Vause what to do", "Vause?" Larry asked curiously, "Yea, Alex" Nicky answered. The smile on Larry's face faltered as Nicky answered his question; he turned his head to look at Piper "Isn't that the name of your ex-girlfriend" he asked. Piper closed her eyes wishing the ground would open up and swallow her as Nicky exclaimed "I fucking knew it!", Piper opened her eyes and looked at Nicky "I knew you and Vause had an history but girlfriend?" Nicky asked. "Of course not" Red answered for Piper "You know Alex, she has never mentioned having a girlfriend before" Red added, "Maybe she was a one night stand that got too involved, it's happened to Vause before" Gina said speaking for the first time since she had arrived, "Excuse me! But no, I wasn't a one night stand" Piper cried out. Hearing the loud voices from the kitchen Boo walked into the room "What's going on?" she asked, Nicky turned to look at Boo with a huge smile on her face "Barry just let loose that Blondie is Alex's ex", "It's Larry" Larry grumbled under his breath, "No fucking way man. She's not Alex's type, look at her" Boo replied while scanning over Piper in her burgundy sweater with a floral patterned blouse underneath and blue jeans. "What is that supposed to mean?" Piper asked feeling indignant at the comment, "Your too cookie cut, stepford wives for Alex" Boo answered with a shrug making Red snort and Nicky burst into laughter "You sure you didn't have a one night stand and thought it was more?" Boo asked, "That's what I said" Gina piped up. Larry's head whipped around to look at the women as they conversed "They were together for over a year" he answered for Piper, Nicky's laughter died at this then she turned to Piper and studied her, "Larry will you please stop talking, you're making it worse" Piper hissed. Nicky continued to scrutinise Piper "You were in a relationship with Vause for over a year?" she asked suspiciously, Piper nodded in reply, "Come on Nichols, she's bull shitting. Vause doesn't do relationships we all know this" Boo said. Nicky narrowed her eyes at Piper then slowly smiled, "Why is it so hard to believe that Pipes could be with this Alex woman?" Larry asked confusedly, everyone but Piper laughed at this "Wait till you meet Vause, then you'll know" Nicky answered. The subject of Piper and Alex was abruptly dropped when the doorbell rang throughout the house "Boo get Miller to start playing some music, Red and co go into the kitchen and set up the food table and help Sophia make some drinks, I'll answer the door. This party is officially about to start" Nicky said then winked at Piper and left the room to answer the door.

An hour later Alex stood hesitantly at the front door of Piper's home, she had been putting off going to the BBQ for as long as she could as she wasn't looking forward to witnessing Piper in her new life, she knew that seeing the blonde in her home and with her fiancé was going to hurt. She was already in a foul mood as her previous night's plans had gone to shit, instead of dinner followed by hot, wild sex she had been screamed at for not being able to get her date a ticket to the Carmen Matthews book release which had given Alex a headache that hadn't vanished when she had woken up that morning. Sighing and knowing she couldn't put off the inevitable any longer Alex raised her hand and pressed the doorbell, _I can do this, _Alex internally reassured herself. She only had to wait a few seconds before the front door was opened by Yoga Jones, "Hey Vause, come on in" Yoga Jones said as she opened the door wider for Alex to walk through. "Why are you answering the door?" Alex asked curiously, "Nicky put me on door duty" Yoga Jones answered; Alex nodded in understanding and entered Piper's home. Alex followed Yoga Jones into the living room and looked around, it seemed like every member of her staff from her businesses were crammed into Piper's home, when her employees noticed that she had arrived they all cheered and raised their drinks in the air. "The Boss is here", "Finally, now the party has started" Were called out making Alex chuckle. Alex turned to Yoga Jones and smiled "Have you seen Nichols?" she asked, Yoga Jones nodded "Last time I saw her she was in the kitchen with Lorna". Alex nodded then headed in the direction that she thought would lead her to the kitchen, as Alex entered the kitchen she spotted Nicky sat on a stool talking to Lorna and a dark haired guy she hadn't seen before. Alex began to approach the threesome and was a few steps away when Nicky turned and noticed her, Nicky broke into a shit eating grin as Alex walked towards them. "Hey Vause" Nicky said then turned to look at the guy who was stood across from her, Alex watched as the guy she didn't know turned his head to look at her. The guy's jaw practically hit the floor as he looked at Alex, dressed in a black, leather jacket with a white tank top underneath, black ribbed jeans with black converse on her feet and a beanie on her head Alex knew she looked good. When Alex reached the threesome she stood next to Nicky and smiled at Lorna, she then looked at the guy who was shuffling from foot to foot while rudely staring at Alex, _What the fuck is this guy's problem? _Alex thought. She frowned as the guy continued to stare at her; Alex watched as he opened his mouth to speak then quickly closed it. The guy looked over Alex critically; Alex glanced at Nicky who was smiling a huge toothy grin, Alex thought that her cheeks would have be aching from how wide her best friend was smiling. Alex looked back at the guy and arched a brow, "Alex?" the guy said, Alex shrugged "Yeah". The guy blinked and smiled amusedly "You're er… tall", Nicky and Lorna laughed at this while Alex scoffed and shook her head "I've been told. Who the fuck are you?" Alex asked feeling put out. The guy looked at Nicky then back at Alex, "I'm Larry, Piper's fiancé" Larry answered. Alex's stomach dropped as she looked at the guy stood in front, dressed in a navy and burgundy cardigan with a blue stripped shirt underneath and black slacks with brown shoes on his feet, Alex immediately hated the guy. Her heart pounded in her chest in silent rage as she glanced over Larry again, she looked Larry directly in his eyes and shook her head "Of course you fucking are" Alex said with a smirk.


	6. Chapter 6

Alex and Larry stood staring at each other; Alex scoffed and shook her head as she looked over Larry again. Larry was exactly what Alex had imagined, right from his neatly cropped dark hair to the brown shoes on his feet he screamed predictable and boring, the total opposite of Alex. Larry shuffled from foot to foot and turned his head to look nervously away as Alex refused to back down first from their staring competition, he nodded then turned to look back at Alex "So… you're Piper's ex-girlfriend?" he asked hesitantly. Alex's mouth parted slightly in shock, she flared her nostrils and pushed her shoulders back making herself stand to her full height and tower over Larry.

She never thought that Piper would tell anyone about their relationship, she had always been the "invisible woman" never to be acknowledged as Piper's girlfriend outside of their group of friends, she had thought she would always Piper's dirty little secret. Yet here she was stood in Piper's kitchen with her ex's fiancé being asked a question she wasn't sure she wanted to answer with other people around. Nicky and Lorna waited anxiously for Alex to answer, Nicky sat on the edge of her stool smiling at Alex who was still staring at Larry. "Come on Vause you have to confirm or deny because people are calling bullshit on this" Nicky said impatiently. Alex sighed heavily and shrugged "It was a long time ago" she answered. Nicky's eyes widened at the confirmation as Larry nodded and Lorna's mouth dropped open in shock. Alex noticed Nicky nod at Lorna from the corner of her eye, Lorna quickly turned and walked away to join another group of people that was nearby. Alex watched as Lorna spoke then all of the people she was stood with turned to stare at her, _Great! This is just fucking great! _Alex thought knowing that within five minutes everyone at the get together would know that she and Piper had once been a couple.

Alex shook her head from side to side and looked at Nicky who was grinning in amusement. "Piper said she had an ex-girlfriend I just didn't think you'd be so…" Larry said and trailed off from what he was saying; Alex turned away from Nicky to look back at Larry and frowned. "So what?" Alex asked bitingly, Larry looked over Alex and shrugged "I expected something along the lines of…" Larry looked around the room and nodded towards someone over Alex's shoulder. Alex turned and looked in the direction that Larry had nodded to see Boo looking back at her with a huge grin on her face, Alex chuckled amusedly and turned to look at Larry and arched a brow at him. "Sorry to disappoint ya champ" Alex said with a smirk making Nicky laugh.

Larry nodded and raised his chin "You wear glasses" he said, "You like to state the obvious" Alex replied while still smirking. Nicky sat back on her stool wondering where Larry was going to go with this, she knew she was about to witness an epic show down, one that she knew Alex would definitely win. "I've never had to wear glasses, I have perfect vision" Larry boasted. Alex pursed her lips trying to fight back laughing at how idiotic Larry sounded "That's… erm good to know" Alex said with a small chuckle and nodded. Alex stood and waited for Larry to say something else but when it seemed like he was at a loss for words she looked at Nicky and grinned "I'm going out for a smoke you coming?" she asked her friend, Nicky grinned back and nodded. "You smoke?" Larry suddenly asked, _Here we go, _Alex thought and smiled tightly in acknowledgment at Larry "Yea I do" she answered. Larry's face lit up in triumph as he smiled a large toothy grin "Piper hates cigarettes, she always complains about how bad smokers smell and how it's disgusting and unattractive. It's one of the many things we agree on, I've never smoked and she loves that" Larry said. Alex glared at Larry who was still smiling like a fool thinking he had accomplished something great, Alex ran her tongue along her bottom row of teeth and took a step towards Larry. She knew that he was trying to prove that he was better than her and pointing out the things that he saw as her flaws but all that it did was prove to Alex what an asshole Larry was. Alex tilted her head to the side and ran her eyes slowly over Larry, she started from his shoes and worked her way up his body until she reached his face then looked directly into his eyes, she took in every single detail of the man stood in front of her and smiled a small vicious smile. _You asked for it asshole, _she thought then lifted her head.

"What are you trying to prove Larry? That you're better than me? That you're the best person for Piper?" Alex asked, Nicky shuffled to the edge of her stool waiting for what Alex would say next. Larry opened and closed his mouth as Alex glared at him then shrugged. "You're in your early thirties and you're wearing brown shoes with black pants and no socks, which means you've being allowed to dress yourself today, not something you get to do often I'm guessing" Alex began to say "You probably have a job in something that you think makes you seem interesting, you're too put together for an artist so I'm thinking actor or writer…", "Free-lance writer" Nicky stated with a curious smile making Alex laugh. "Ahh unemployed, the watch you're wearing costs about $30 so you're not successful" Alex stated "Which means you can't afford a mortgage so you don't own you're home, you rent but then you don't have a job so you can't pay you're share of the bills so either Piper supports you or mummy and daddy does but it's probably both" Alex said with a smile as Larry's cheeks flushed crimson "Let's round things off shall we? You're a broke unemployed thirty something year old guy who is supported by his fiancée and parents, you don't own your own home and probably never will because you sit around here all day waiting for a big break to land in your lap instead of going out and earning it but you don't wear glasses and you don't smoke. What a catch" Alex said sarcastically then turned on her heel and strode towards the French doors in the kitchen that led to the small back yard and walked out. Nicky jumped off of the stool she was sat on and laughed at the flustered Larry that Alex had left behind, she patted Larry on the chest as she walked by him and grinned "You asked for that Barry" she said then followed Alex outside while Larry stormed out of the kitchen to look for Piper.

Nicky found Alex sat at the back of the yard on a wall behind a trellis with ivy covering it; she smiled at her friend and sat down on the wall next to her. "That was fucking awesome" Nicky chuckled and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and offered Alex one, Alex smiled as she took a cigarette then place it in her mouth. "Yea well he was been an asshole" Alex replied, "He is an asshole" Nicky stated "I've had to listen to him go on about a fucking article he's writing about masturbating, like who the fuck wants to know how he gets himself off" Nicky said. Alex laughed as she unzipped a pocket on her leather jacket and pulled out a lighter, she lit the cigarette that was in her mouth and inhaled the nicotine deeply. Nicky took the lighter from Alex and lit her own cigarette "You and Chapman huh?" she asked, Alex sighed "Yup" she answered. "I would never have guessed that you guys were exes, I mean I knew there was some history between you both but a relationship? I didn't have you down as that type Vause" Nicky said while studying Alex who was staring straight ahead with a blank expression. "Like I said, it was a long time ago" Alex said and looked at the floor, "You guys were serious" Nicky stated as she passed Alex's lighter back to her, Alex shrugged as she pocketed the lighter and turned her head to look at her best friend "Yeah we were" she admitted. "Can we drop the subject?" Alex asked pleadingly, Nicky frowned and took in how drained Alex looked "Sure pimp, whatever you want".

Alex took a drag of her cigarette then threw it onto the floor and crushed it under the heel of her converse; she tilted her head back and rested it against the trellis behind her, she closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Nicky continued to frown at Alex as Alex sat there with her eyes closed "You seem a little off" Nicky observed, neither woman had heard Piper approach them from behind, the blonde stood behind the trellis and listened as the friends talked. Alex raised her hand and rub the back of it over her forehead "I had a hell of a night" Alex stated. "Yea?" Nicky asked, Alex opened her eyes and adjusted her head to look at Nicky "Fucking JJ" Alex ground out through gritted teeth. "Ahhhh JJ" Nicky said with a mischievous smile "I wondered why you turned up so late, have you up all night did she?" Nicky asked with a wink. Alex shook her head "Yea she fucking did but not in the way you're thinking, I wasn't fucking JJ. I had planned too but she spent the night fucking yelling at me over not being able to get her a ticket for the book release, all I got was "Lexi you said you'd get me one", "Lexi you're the boss make her give me one"" Alex mocked in a high pitched, fake English accent. Nicky burst into laughter as Alex spoke, Piper stiffened as she listened to Alex. "Well can't you make Chapman give you a ticket?" Nicky asked, "Of course I could, I'm the fucking boss but I'm not gonna to do that. She's worked her ass off these past two weeks, I'm not just gonna turn around and make her give me another ticket just because one of the women I'm fucking wants one" Alex replied.

Piper walked from behind to trellis and stood in front of Alex and Nicky "That's good to know" she said as she looked at Alex, Alex sat up on the wall and raised her chin "You seem to have a habit of creeping up on private moments" Alex said referring back to the night of the narcotics anonymous meeting. Piper rolled her eyes and walked towards Alex then sat down on the wall next to her; Piper turned her body so she was facing Alex and looked at her ex while Alex looked down at the floor. Nicky sat on the other side of Alex and watched the duo curiously; the trio sat on the wall in awkward silence. Nicky suddenly clapped her hands together, making both Piper and Alex jump where they sat and stood up "That's my cue to leave, I have some winnings to collect" Nicky said. "Winnings?" Alex asked, "Yea, see the girls and I had bets on whether Blondie was telling the truth about you guys been in a relationship but we needed you to back her up" Nicky explained making Piper sigh and shake her head. "I told you I was telling the truth" Piper ground out, "I thought you could have been and that's why I placed my bets on you, lucky for me I was the only one that thought it was possible that Vause would be with you" Nicky said with a laugh "I won the fucking lot, so I'm gonna go collect my cash before people try and skip out of paying up. I'll leave you two to..." Nicky trailed off with a grin on her face then walked away from Piper and Alex leaving the duo alone.

Alex coughed to clear her throat as Nicky walked away then raised her head to look straight ahead; Piper tilted her head and studied Alex. The blonde noticed how Alex's mouth was pinched tight like she had eaten something sour and noticed the crease in between her eyebrows that always signalled that the dark haired woman had an headache "You have an headache" Piper stated. Alex turned to look at Piper her eyes widened in shock "How…" Alex shook her head deciding not to ask how Piper knew she had an headache, the blonde had always known when she had been feeling under the weather and she should have known that even after eight years of been apart Piper would still know. "Are you ok?" Piper asked, Alex nodded "Yeah, it'll pass" she answered. Piper nodded and sighed "Well I have just been lectured by my fiancé for talking about him with you and how our relationship's problems should be kept between us and not shared with my ex" Piper said, Alex smirked as she looked at Piper and arched a brow, "Thing is we have never talked about Larry so care to explain what happened?" Piper asked. Alex shrugged "Didn't you ask him?" she asked, "Of course I did" Piper stated "He just said you were an asshole then walked away". Alex laughed in disbelief "He said I was an asshole! What a fucking prick" Alex said through gritted teeth, Alex shook her head and reached into her jacket pocket, she pulled out a cigarette and placed it in her mouth.

Piper frowned as she watched Alex dangle the cigarette from her mouth then reach back into her pocket and pull out a lighter; the blonde grimaced as Alex lit the cigarette and inhaled. "Jesus Christ Alex! When did you start to smoke?!" Piper exclaimed in disbelief. Alex chuckled at Piper's expression and took a drag on the cigarette; she tilted her head to the side and let the smoke seep out from her open mouth slowly. Piper's disbelief quickly turned into arousal as she watched the smoke leave Alex's mouth, watching Alex smoke had to be one of the hottest things the blonde had ever witnessed, Piper licked her lips as she stared at Alex's mouth, desire ran through her veins making her heart race as Alex took another drag on the cigarette. "Why am I not surprised that you can turn something disgusting into being sexy" Piper asked in a voice filled with arousal as she continued to stare at Alex's mouth, Alex blinked in surprise at what Piper had said letting the cigarette dangle from her lips. Alex raised her hand and took the cigarette out of her mouth snapping Piper out of her staring; the blonde quickly looked up and locked her gaze with Alex's.

"That's funny, you're fiancé used my smoking as one of the things that you wouldn't like about me" Alex stated. Piper shook her head in confusion and furrowed her brow "What?" she asked dazedly, Alex raised the cigarette back to her mouth and pulled deeply on it then exhaled, she watched as Piper's eyes dropped back to her mouth and lean towards her, she watched as the blonde's eyes filled with an hunger she hadn't witnessed in a while it made Alex want to reach out and capture the blonde's lips with her own. Fighting the urge to kiss Piper Alex leaned away from the blonde and threw her cigarette onto the floor, Piper watched Alex intently , she was sure that Alex had wanted to kiss her only moments before and excitement had built in her stomach at the prospect but it was swiftly over taken by disappointment when Alex moved away. "Me and Larry got into a little war of words you could say when he kept going on about being perfect" Alex said and looked away from Piper "He lost and must have come running to you to make himself feel better" she added then turned to look back at Piper. Piper frowned "I'm guessing there's more to it than that" the blonde said as she looked into Alex's eyes, Alex shrugged in reply "He tried to make out he was better than me, I just pointed out the facts". Piper sighed and shook her head "You don't know any facts to point out" Piper said, Alex shrugged "Please I could read him like a fucking book and he didn't like it" she explained. "You could have gone easy on him" Piper said knowing that Alex had probably only told Larry the truth. Alex chuckled "And where would the fun have been in that?"

Piper looked at Alex and nibbled on her lip, she turned her body so she was facing forwards and not towards Alex and smiled at the woman sat next to her. "Thank you" Piper said suddenly making Alex frown, "For what?" Alex asked confusedly, "For not demanding that I give you a ticket for your girlfriend" Piper replied. Alex broke into a wide grin "My girlfriend?" she asked and arched a brow, "Yeah" Piper answered, Alex grinned wider and shook her head "She is not my girlfriend" Alex said. Piper nodded "Some of the girls said that they didn't believe we were in a relationship because you don't do girlfriends" Piper said, Alex smirked and shook her head slowly "I don't" she replied. Piper bit on her lip again "So I guess that means there's no one serious around?" Piper asked, the smirk dropped from Alex's face at the question. Piper thought that she may have become too personal with Alex and quickly stood up from the wall "Sorry I asked, I just…" Piper began to say then moved to walk away, "Wait" Alex said as she quickly reached out and grabbed Piper's wrist. As their skin came into contact both women locked gazes, Alex's heart pounded in her chest as she held onto Piper, she hadn't touched the blonde in over eight years and suddenly feeling her skin under her fingertips felt like a small volcano of want, need and yearning had erupted inside of her. Piper was overcome with the familiar feeling of desire as she felt Alex holding her wrist, it was only a small touch but Piper could feel Alex everywhere on her body. Alex pulled gently on Piper's wrist making the blonde step towards her; Piper sucked her bottom lip into her mouth as she moved closer to Alex. Alex pulled Piper so that she was in front of the wall beside her; Piper sat down next to Alex. The older woman didn't let go of Piper's wrist as they sat on the wall looking at each other, Alex stroked her thumb across the inside of Piper's wrist making the blonde gasp as her arousal intensified; Piper leaned towards Alex and searched her face. Alex blinked slowly and dropped her gaze to Piper's mouth, she knew she should move away her mind was screaming at her that she should stop what was about to happen but Alex's body seemed to have a mind of its own and she leaned even closer to Piper. Piper opened her mouth and inched towards Alex hesitantly, the blonde didn't know how they had reached where they were now but she wasn't complaining, all she could think about was Alex's lips on her own. Alex and Piper looked deeply into each other's eyes that were hooded with desire; Piper moistened her lips with her tongue making Alex flare her nostrils at the gesture. Piper's heart felt like it was about to pound out of her chest as Alex moved closer to her, with their noses only centimetres apart Piper could feel Alex's breathe on her cheek. Alex swallowed loudly as she tilted her head slightly to the right, she raised her hand and was about to cup Piper's face in her palm when her name was called out.

"Vause!" Nicky called out as she approached the trellis that Alex and Piper were sat behind. Alex quickly jumped back away from Piper making sure there was plenty of room between them before Nicky reached them. Piper blinked rapidly at Alex's sudden withdrawal, she raised her hands and was about to reach out for Alex but the dark haired woman shook her head quickly and looked over her shoulder. "Vause!" Nicky called out again, "I heard you Nicky" Alex replied while studying Piper, she could see the utter disappointment on Piper's face at being interrupted. "Al" Piper whispered and searched the older woman's face, Alex looked away from Piper and shook her head, she had wanted to kiss Piper more than anything but Alex was also grateful that Nicky was interrupting them "I'm…sorry… this… we shouldn't…" Alex stammered. Piper frowned as Alex tried to talk, Alex looked at Piper again and sighed, Piper could see the war that was raging inside of Alex in her eyes. Piper sighed and hung her head, she knew that Alex wanted to kiss her as much as she wanted to kiss Alex but the dark haired woman always pushed Piper away just as they were making progress. Though they had just been about to make more progress than Piper could have imagined the blonde wanted it and hearing Alex say they shouldn't give in to what they both wanted hurt. Piper looked up and nodded her head slowly, she looked at Alex who gazed back, they were being drawn back into each other again when Nicky burst around the corner of the trellis.

"Shit, am I interrupting?" Nicky asked as she watched Alex move further away from Piper. "Yes", "No" Piper and Alex said in unison. Alex looked up at her best friend "What's up?" she asked ignoring the glare that was being directed at her from Piper, "Red's looking for you, Lorna told her you're here and now she wants to see you" Nicky answered while studying Piper who hadn't stopped staring at Alex. "Ok, let's go" Alex said quickly then stood up from the wall and walked away with Nicky leaving Piper sitting on the wall. Alex needed to get away from Piper quickly before she did something that couldn't be taken back, she may have wanted to kiss the other woman but Alex still didn't want to let Piper get too close and Alex knew she was currently standing on the line that she had drawn between them and would have willingly stepped over it if Nicky hadn't disturbed them.

Piper sighed as she watched Alex and Nicky walk away, she had been so close to tasting Alex again and she wanted to slap Nicky for stopping that from happening, Piper shook her head, she knew she shouldn't want to kiss Alex especially with Larry being around but Piper did want to and she knew that when another chance made itself available she would take what she wanted and damn the consequences.

Alex tried to avoid Piper for the rest of the staff get together; when the blonde joined a group she was with Alex would discreetly extract herself and join another group but then Piper would soon follow with a smile letting Alex know with a look that she knew what she was doing. As a last ditch attempt Alex had joined a group that Lorna was with and waited for Piper to follow after a few minutes Alex had mentioned Lorna's engagement which then had the small brunette talk endlessly to Piper about wedding plans, Alex had grinned victoriously then excused herself leaving Piper unable to follow as Lorna explained every detail of the wedding that she wanted.

Alex was stood in Piper's living room looking at the framed photographs of the blonde and her fiancé that were placed along the mantel piece and clenched her jaw, wave after wave of anger and pain rolled through Alex as she looked at the smiling faces in the photos. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the offending images; she angrily reached up and picked up a frame with a shaking hand that had a happily smiling Piper with her arms wrapped around Larry's neck behind the glass. Alex glared at the image and at how happy the couple seemed to be, she wanted to smash it out of spite, why did Piper get to move on and be happy while she had been left alone with only heroin as her only comfort! Alex was about to put the photograph back on the mantel when Larry walked up and stood beside her "That was the day I proposed" he said with a soft smile as he looked down at the photograph that Alex held, "How touching" Alex said coldly then slammed the frame back where she had picked it up from. Alex turned to glare at Larry and arched a brow at him, "I think we got off on the wrong foot" Larry said as Alex stared at him, "Did we?" Alex asked in amusement. "Yeah, I reacted badly to meeting you it's just that I've never met one of Piper's exes before an…", "What do you want?" Alex asked interrupting Larry before he could finish what he was saying.

Larry laughed nervously and shuffled from foot to foot "What makes you think I want anything?" he asked, Alex sighed and crossed her arms over her chest "Cut the bullshit, you want something from me. I can read people in seconds of meeting them and the way you're shuffling about and apologising for being an asshole..", "I'm not apologising!" Larry exclaimed as he looked around the room hoping he hadn't drawn any attention to them "Ok, I do want something from you" Larry admitted. "No shit" Alex replied "What is it?" she asked as curiosity niggled at her, Larry sighed then looked at Alex "Piper was telling me how Carmen Matthews is a friend of yours and that's how you got her to agree to attend her book release at your store" Larry said. Alex pursed her lips knowing exactly what direction Larry was taking with the conversation, "I wanted to know if you could get me an exclusive interview with her" he asked quickly. Alex burst into laughter when Larry finished speaking, she dropped her hands to her side and grinned widely "Why the fuck would I do that for you?" she asked. Larry sighed "I don't want it for me" he said, Alex frowned in suspicion at this "It's not for you?" she asked disbelievingly. "Well it is and it isn't, it's for Piper. I want to take her on a surprise honeymoon and the only way I can afford to do that is if I sell some articles that I've written or if you can set me up with an exclusive with Carmen Matthews" Larry said. Alex shook her head slowly in astonishment "Are you fucking kidding me?" she asked, Larry frowned "No I'm not, Piper deserves a great honeymoon and if you don't help me I won't be able to take her on one" Larry replied. Alex stepped away from Larry in disbelief "You really are being fucking serious" she said, "Yeah I am" Larry replied "And if you want me to I'll beg because I really want to do this for Piper" he added.

Alex opened her mouth and was about to reply with a fuck no when Piper joined them, "Everything ok?" Piper asked worriedly as she scanned Alex's face. "Yeah Sweetie, me and Alex were just talking" Larry answered and wrapped his arm around Piper's waist and pulled her close, Alex gritted her teeth as she watched Larry claim Piper in front of her. "Al?" Piper asked wanting to know if Alex was ok, Alex looked into Piper's blue eyes and recognised the concern that was swimming in their depths. Alex smiled tightly "Just peachy" she answered making Piper frown and push Larry's arm away from her waist. "What did you say to her?" Piper asked Larry accusingly as she stepped away from him, "Nothing, Pipes honestly we were just talking weren't we?" Larry said and looked pleadingly at Alex. Piper turned her head to look at Alex questioningly making Alex sigh; the older woman didn't want to cause any drama, she felt like her headache had intensified tenfold since talking to Larry and all she wanted was to get away from the couple that was standing in front of her. "Yeah we we're just talking" Alex said while looking Piper, "See Sweetie, me and Alex have worked our differences out" Larry said with a smile. Alex scoffed quietly at this and shook her head, "Now I know you're lying" Piper replied and studied Alex.

Piper noticed that the crease that had been in between Alex's eyebrows all day had deepened, "Is your headache getting worse?" the blonde asked with concern ignoring the frown that Larry directed at her. Alex nodded reluctantly knowing it was useless lying to Piper about how bad her headache was "Yeah, I'm actually gonna head on home. Could you tell Nichols I'll call her later?" Alex asked, "Sure" Piper said confusedly and frowned at Alex. Alex looked into Piper's confused eyes and nodded slowly, she then looked at Larry and glared at him "I'll see what I can do" Alex said making Larry's face burst into a giant smile. "Thank you! Thank you so mu…", "Whatever" Alex said as Larry spoke and walked in between Larry and Piper making more space between the couple as she walked out of the room and towards the front door.

Alex walked out of Piper's home and breathed a sigh of relief, she was glad to be out of the house and away from Larry, she wasn't sure she could stand another minute in his presence without punching him in the face. She couldn't believe the guys audacity at asking her to do something for him after being such a dick, she had only agreed because of Piper for all she cared Larry could spend his honeymoon in a tent in his back yard but Alex still wanted Piper to have the best even after everything that had happened between them. Alex sighed and reached into her pocket for her cell as she stood on the top step of Piper's stoop; she dialled the number for a cab and was giving the operator Piper's address when she heard the front door open behind her. Alex turned and came face to face with Piper; Alex finished her call then hung up and pocketed her cell. Piper moved to stand next to Alex on the stoop "Are you leaving because of whatever Larry said to you?" Piper asked as she looked at Alex, Alex sighed and shrugged "It's for the best that I leave, he may have ended up in hospital if he continued to talk to me plus my fucking head is pounding" Alex said. Piper stepped towards Alex her face full with concern as she studied the older woman "You do look pale" Piper observed, "Are you trying to be funny?" Alex asked with a smile. Piper giggled "Ok you look paler than usual" she corrected, Alex shrugged "It's just a headache" she said. Piper nodded "When you get home take a hot bath and some pain killers" the blonde ordered, "Will do" Alex replied with a smirk, "And no alcohol it will only make you feel worse" Piper added. Alex chuckled and nodded her head "Ok".

Piper smiled "And don't think that we're not going to talk about what happened in the yard or how you have been avoiding me all day and also about the stunt you pulled with Lorna, because we are but I'm going to let you off today seen as you aren't feeling too good" Piper warned. Alex sighed as she looked at Piper "Can't we just forget about it?" she asked, "No" Piper replied. Alex looked at the determination in Piper's eyes and nodded "Another day then" she said making Piper grin. As the two women stood on Piper's stoop gazing at each other Alex's cab parked up, Alex turned to look at the cab then back at Piper "I'll see you tomorrow at work" Alex said then began to walk down the steps towards the cab. Piper followed Alex to the cab and watched as Alex opened the cab door and leaned against it; "See you tomorrow" Piper said and started to lean towards Alex, Alex licked her lips as Piper's face came closer to her own she knew that the blonde was going to try and kiss her again and she knew that she had to stop it. As Piper closed the distance between them, her heart raced nervously and she could feel sweat break out on the back of her neck, just as Piper's lips were about to brush against Alex's she hesitated for a split second giving Alex enough time to turn her head so Piper's lips connected with her cheek. Alex quickly stepped away from Piper as the shock of Piper's lips on her skin rocketed through her body, Alex wanted to grab hold of the blonde and take her home, she wanted to let Piper place her lips all over her body and make her moan out in pleasure. Instead Alex quickly scooted into the cab and slammed the cab door shut behind her, through the open cab window Alex looked at Piper "We'll talk later" Alex assured the blonde. Piper nodded feeling dazed by how amazing it had felt feeling Alex's flesh under her mouth again though she felt robbed by not feeling the dark haired beauty's lips on her own, Piper wanted to crawl in the cab after Alex and demand that she kiss her like she wanted her too but she knew that she would eventually get what she wanted she just had to wait. Alex was letting her defences down one and one and Piper was more than willing to wait for the reward that she wanted.

Alex turned to talk to cab driver and gave the address that she wanted to be taken too, Piper listened as Alex spoke and felt like the air had been ripped from her body as she heard the address that Alex had given the cabbie. Piper looked at Alex with wide, shocked eyes her mouth hanging open as she stood on the side walk, "You…" Piper began to say then trailed off as the cab driver began to pull away from the curb and drive away. Piper watched feeling stunned as the cab took Alex away from her, the blonde couldn't believe what she had heard. Piper walked unsteadily towards her stoop and sat down needing to feel something solid beneath her, Piper replayed the address that Alex had given the cab driver; she shook her head as disbelief clouded her body. _It can't be possible; _Piper thought as she sat on her stoop, the address that Alex had given the driver was the address of the apartment that they had got together over eight years ago. It was the address that Alex and Piper had made some of her favourite memories together, it was their home. And it seemed that Alex still lived in the home they had created together.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning Piper parked her car across the street from New Chapter and switched off the engine, she didn't remember a second of her journey has her mind hadn't switched off since the previous evening. She had spent her night tossing and turning in bed unable to sleep has her mind had thrown question after question at her, why did Alex still live in their apartment? Did she still have the wall art that they had chosen together up on the walls or had she got rid of everything that could remind her of Piper? Was Alex going to actually talk about their near kiss or was she going to pretend that it didn't happen like she seemed to be doing with anything related to their relationship. Piper was determined to get some answers from her ex that morning and she wasn't going to let Alex off of the hook until she had answered every question that was running through her mind.

Piper opened her car door and climbed out of her car, she began to walk towards the store while locking the car door behind her but she suddenly stopped in the middle of the road when she realised that the shutters of the store were still down. Piper frowned as she stood staring at the closed store, since she had started working at New Chapter Alex had always being the first to arrive and opened the store before Piper showed up for her shift. Piper's frown deepened as she continued to walk towards the store, she rummaged in her bag for the set of keys that Alex had given her on her first day at New Chapter and pulled them out. She opened the shutters of the store than unlocked the front door and walked inside, as Piper entered the store the alarm began to beep loudly, quickly Piper ran over to the alarm keypad and hesitated for a second. The alarm code quickly came to Piper and with a soft smile she entered the date of her and Alex's anniversary date, _That's another question to ask Alex, _Piper thought once the alarm system stopped beeping, _Why does she use our anniversary date as a security code after eight years of being apart? _Piper wondered.

Piper stood and looked around the eerily quiet store, the usual energy that pulsed through the book store wasn't present, it was like the store was missing something major that kept the place alive and full of energy. _Where the hell is Alex? _Piper thought has she made her way through the store and towards her office. When Piper entered her office she immediately went to her desk and switched on her computer, she sat in her desk chair and signed into her email account and checked her emails to see if Alex had contacted her but all she had received since leaving work on Saturday evening were emails from Carmen Matthews's agent with more demands that the author wanted. Piper sat back in her chair with a defeated sigh, _Is she avoiding me? _Popped into Piper's mind, she knew Alex had been avoiding her when she had first started working at New Chapter but she had thought they had got past that but with Alex being a no show at work after their near kiss the previous day, Piper thought that Alex could once again be reverting back to her old ways. Piper shook her head at the thought, she decided that she would wait a while and see if Alex would arrive, it was still early and Piper thought that it could be possible that Alex had overslept. With a sigh Piper turned to her computer and began to reply to the emails she had received, every time she heard a noise she whipped her head up from her computer screen hoping to see Alex walk by her open office door but she was disappointed every time has by half seven Alex still hadn't arrived at the store.

Piper was sat in her desk chair staring across the hallway at the closed door of Alex's office when she was startled by a loud bang coming from the staff room, Piper jumped out of her seat and hurriedly strode down the hallway hoping she would find Alex in the staff room making her morning coffee. Piper entered the staff room with a huge smile on her face, giddiness shot through her veins at the thought of seeing Alex in the room, Piper's smile quickly vanished when she saw Nicky stood facing her with a cup of coffee in her hand. Nicky watched the smile drain from Piper's face and chuckled "Nice to see you too Blondie". Piper pursed her lips and slowly made her way over to Nicky.

"Sorry Nichols, I thought you might be Alex. She hasn't arrived yet" Piper explained with a sullen expression. Nicky smiled widely as Piper talked and tried to not let her amusement show at how happy Piper had been at possibly seeing Alex instead of herself.

"She's not coming in today" Nicky said then took a drink of her coffee. Piper frowned at Nicky, anger began to build inside her as she stood staring at Nicky, _I knew it! She's fucking avoiding me! Fuck you Alex! _Piper thought. Nicky watched as anger flashed in Piper's eyes, she didn't know why Piper was becoming angry at Alex not being in work that day but she still found it amusing. "She's sick, pussy! I don't believe in getting sick" Nicky added.

The anger that was coursing through Piper abruptly evaporated at hearing that Alex was sick, Piper knew that Alex never took a sick day off of work which meant that Alex had to be in a bad way for her to be off of work ill. "What do you mean she's sick? She only said she had a headache yesterday" Piper said with worry lacing her voice.

Nicky shrugged "She called me last night and she sounded rough, said she had a headache and was aching all over. I was going to go over to hers after your party but she wanted to be left alone so I did".

"Yeah she likes to be alone when she's ill, she doesn't like people to see her vulnerable which is fucking stupid" Piper said with nod, "Has she called you this morning? I checked my emails to see if she had tried to contact me but she hasn't" Piper added.

Nicky shook her head and took a drink of her coffee. Piper frowned and looked at the floor, she knew Alex had told Nicky she wanted to be alone but Piper knew exactly what Alex liked when she was sick, she knew how Alex liked to wear fluffy PJ bottoms and an oversized hoody when she was sick, she knew that Alex would spend the first three days in bed asleep with the blankets pulled tight around her trying to sweat out whatever virus she had then she would spend the rest of the time she was ill watching chick flicks while wrapped up warmly on the couch with a hot chocolate close at hand. Piper was the only one that knew exactly what Alex would want. Piper quickly made a decision as she stood in the staff room, she didn't care that Alex wanted to be alone, Piper needed to know that that the dark haired woman was ok and she wanted to take Alex a few "sick Alex" essentials like she used to when they were together. Piper looked up and smiled softly at Nicky who frowned suspiciously back.

"Nichols, I'm going to need you to look after the store for a couple of hours" Piper said cajolingly while looking at Nicky with wide pleading eyes.

"Fuck no! You were employed so I didn't have to do any of that shit anymore Chapman, ask another shmuck" Nicky refused while shaking her head rapidly from side to side.

"Please Nichols; you know what you're doing. All you have to do is open the store at eight and do your usual job. I don't expect you to do anything else, I've already dealt with things relating to the book release and by the time I get back you won't even notice that I've being gone" Piper said quickly hoping to persuade Nicky.

"Why?" Nicky asked suspiciously, already knowing that somehow Piper's sudden need to leave the store was due to Alex being off of work.

Piper shrugged and looked guiltily away while pushing a strand of hair behind her ear "I just need to" she answered.

Nicky smirked at how obvious Piper was being "I'm gonna need more than that Blondie" Nicky chuckled.

Piper snapped her head to round to look at the chuckling Nicky, she realised that the shorter blonde already knew why she wanted to leave but she wasn't going to give the other woman the satisfaction of being right. Piper pushed back her shoulders and looked Nicky directly in the eyes; "I'm going home" Piper said and smiled when Nicky stopped laughing while furrowing her brow. "I won't be long" Piper promised then turned on her heel and left the staff room leaving a confused Nicky staring after her.

Alex was laid in her bed wrapped up tightly under the blankets with used, scrunched up tissues spread around her, she felt terrible! Her head felt like it had been hit repeatedly with a sledge hammer, her throat felt like she had swallowed razor blades and she had coughed so much her stomach felt like she had done hundreds of sit-ups. She moaned has a wave of pain hit her, she tried to roll over under the blankets but her limbs felt too heavy to move, Alex squeezed her eyes shut until the pain faded away. Alex pulled the blankets even tighter over her and reached out for one of the tissues that she was laid with to wipe her running nose, the dark haired woman hated being sick, even has a child she had hated it. She always felt weak and useless when she was ill and didn't like to be around people but as Alex lay under her blankets she suddenly felt an over whelming need to have someone there to cuddle her and stroke her hair, she wanted someone there so they could fetch her a glass of water so she didn't have to and look after her while she was in her current state. As she thought of being taken care of Piper popped into her mind, Alex chuckled lightly at the thought then stopped as another bout of coughing wracked her body. Alex groaned and snuggled deeper into her bed when she finally stopped coughing, she was almost asleep when her door bell chimed and shocked her from near unconsciousness. Alex groaned again and raised her hand to put it over her ear to try and drown out the sound of the doorbell, "Go away" she moaned has the doorbell chimed again. Alex sighed with relief when the chiming stopped, she was about to relax when the doorbell rang in five quick, short bursts, Alex shot up in bed and listened has the doorbell rang again five times. It was a signal that Piper had come up with when they had lived together to tell Alex that it was her at the door when she had forgotten her keys, which had been often. When the five bursts rang through the apartment again Alex moved as quickly as she could to climb out of bed and walked to the front door. _It can't be Piper, _Alex thought as she neared the front door of her apartment, she knew Piper had heard her tell the cabbie the address but she didn't think that Piper would actually show up at her apartment. The bell rang five more times before Alex reached the front door; warily Alex unlocked the front door and opened it slowly, when she saw who was on the other side her heart leapt in her chest. Alex leant against the open door to support herself as she looked at the nervous looking Piper that was stood on her doorstep.

"You look like shit" Piper said as Alex stood staring at her. Alex frowned and shook her head, she couldn't get her head around the fact that Piper was stood at her front door, it was like a blast past, one that had Alex feeling overwhelmed. "Al, are you ok?" Piper asked becoming even more worried by how Alex was just stood leaning against the door staring at her while looking deathly pale with a bright red nose.

"Piper" Alex croaked, Piper beamed has Alex said her name. "Why are you smiling like that?" Alex asked confusedly as she looked at Piper's wide smile and happy, sparkling blue eyes.

Piper bit her bottom lip and shrugged while gazing at Alex "You haven't called me Piper since my first day when we were in your office" Piper answered "You must really be sick" Piper added with a soft chuckle.

Alex opened her mouth then closed it not knowing what to say about using Piper's name, she was feeling vulnerable and the blonde's name had just slipped out of her mouth without her thinking about it but seeing how happy it had made Piper made Alex want to keep putting that same smile on the blonde's face. "I am sick" Alex agreed and leaned her entire weight against the door has the little energy she did have suddenly seemed to be drained from her body.

Piper stepped forward when she saw Alex lean more against the door and held onto the older woman's arm to support her, sparks shot through Piper's arm igniting a trail of goose bumps on her skin as she held onto Alex, she looked quickly at Alex to see if the dark haired woman had had the same response to her touch but Alex was struggling to keep her eyes open and seemed to only be standing because she was leaning against the door. "Come on; let's get you back to bed" Piper said softly while wrapping Alex's arm around her shoulder to support her. Slowly the duo made their way towards Alex's bedroom that used to be theirs, as they walked Piper's head shot from side to side looking at everything that had changed in the apartment, the hallway was no longer one giant bookcase instead there were scenic landscape photographs hanging along the walls. Piper felt a little disappointed as she looked at some of the photos, she and Alex had spent hours arranging their books on the bookshelves around their apartment and that was one thing Piper thought Alex would never change as they both adored to read. When they reached the door of the room that had once being their bedroom Piper hesitated, she glanced at Alex who had all her weight pressed up against Piper, Piper smiled and knew the timing was off but felt a wave of arousal hit her has Alex pushed her body even closer to Piper for support. Piper coughed to clear the lump of arousal that was lodged in her throat and stroked Alex's arm with her thumb; "Nearly there" Piper encouraged and nudged the bedroom door open with her foot. Piper stood in the threshold with Alex hanging onto her and looked around the room, the four poster bed was gone and was replaced with a white gloss Japanese style bed, the walls that were once painted in dark colours were white with one black feature wall behind the bed. The furniture was a mixture of black and white gloss and there was a large canvas picture of a naked woman hanging on the wall above the bed, Piper liked the change, it wasn't something she would have chosen herself but she liked the modern day feel to the room.

Alex had watched Piper's reaction since she had taken hold of her at the front door, she had felt the same shock of desire roll over her when Piper had touched her but couldn't react as she didn't know how she was still standing. The slow walk to her bedroom had been torturous, with every step her arousal had built but at the same time with each step she had wanted to collapse on the floor. She had seen the way that Piper's face had fallen when she had looked around the hallway and had taken note of how the younger woman had hesitated for a minute before opening the bedroom door, Alex had felt nervous as she had watched Piper glance around the bedroom they had once shared. Has Piper stood taking in all the small details of the room in front of her Alex felt her body finally give in to standing up too long; "Pipes" Alex moaned and clung to Piper.

Piper whipped around to look at Alex at scrunched her face up guiltily "Shit! I'm sorry Al" Piper said and walked with Alex towards the older woman's bed. Piper laid Alex down gently and looked at the tissues surrounding the other woman, "Jesus Alex! You can't sleep with dirty tissues, what the fuck!" Piper admonished Alex. Alex moaned and tried to pull the covers over her head but Piper snatched the blankets out of Alex's weak grasp and started to pick up the tissues with a grimace. "Bin?" Piper asked, Alex pointed randomly to the corner of the room and shuffled to the middle of her bed as Piper continued to pick up the tissues she was laid on. Piper huffed and strode over to the waste basket and threw the used tissues inside, she picked up the bin and walked back over to Alex and placed it beside the bed. "Now you can use the bin" Piper said then sat down on the bed beside Alex.

"Thanks" Alex murmured has she pulled her blankets up to her chin and looked at Piper with curious eyes, "What are you doing here?" Alex asked softly.

Piper held up her bag and smiled at Alex, "I've come with some supplies, Nichols told me you're sick and I thought I'd grab you a few things and make sure you're alright. How are you feeling?" Piper asked as she reached out and placed her hand on Alex's forehead to see if she had a temperature.

Alex inhaled deeply at the contact and licked her dry lips, "Like shit" she croaked and pulled the covers tighter around her chin.

Piper chuckled softly and opened her bag, "Well I don't know exactly what is wrong with you so I went to the pharmacy and grabbed a few things" Piper began pulling bottles and packets out of her bag and placed them on the bedside table beside Alex's bed. "Cough medicines, cold capsules, vapour rub and some sort of powder thing that you put into hot water to help with sore throats and aching joints" Piper explained as she placed each item down "Oh and tissues with aloe vera because I know that plain tissue make your nose sore, which it looks like it already is" Piper said and reached out gingerly to touch Alex's red nose.

Alex closed her eyes has Piper touched prodded at her cracked sore nose, "Ouch" she moaned and frowned at Piper.

Piper smiled gently "Sorry". Piper stared down at Alex and shook her head, "I thought you were avoiding me again" Piper admitted.

Alex sighed and snuggled deeper into her covers "I'm not but I feel like I'm about to pass out Pipes, we'll talk ok? Just not now" Alex promised.

Piper realised how selfish she was being bringing up their issues while Alex was sick in bed and nodded in agreement, "Ok pick your poison first then I'll let you sleep. Wait" Piper said as she looked at the large amount of medicines she had brought Alex, "Are you allowed these?" Piper asked naively. Alex frowned in confusion and arched a brow questioningly, Piper waved her hands around while looking at Alex "I mean you go to NA meetings, these are drugs. Legal drugs but still drugs are you…" Piper was cut off by Alex bursting into laughter.

Alex didn't know how she had the strength to laugh but she found Piper so amusing she couldn't help it, she already felt over whelmed by the blonde coming all the way to her apartment and fetching things to help her get better but seeing the worry of supplying Alex with drugs was just too much for the dark haired woman. She had always loved how Piper could be innocent with things but the concern she was showing touched Alex as well as amused her, "I was addicted to smack Piper not fucking pain killers" Alex said while still laughing at the blonde. Alex laughter turned into a fit of coughing, which nearly had her choking; when the coughing fit had faded she looked at Piper and saw that the blonde's face had dropped at Alex's admission.

"I can't imagine…I…" Piper trailed off and looked away from Alex.

Alex sighed and raised her arm from under her duvet and took Piper's hand into her own, Alex stroked her thumb across Piper's own thumb and looked at their joined hands. She could remember the last time she had held Piper's hand in Paris, they had been to see an art exhibit on one of her rare days off and they had spent the day hand in hand walking around the tourists sites of Paris, absorbing everything the city had to other together. It had been one of Alex's favourite days as Piper had seemed happy and content with their life and she could imagine spending the rest of her life hand in hand with the blonde as they travelled the world together. Alex was brought out of her trip down memory lane by Piper squeezing tightly on her hand; Alex looked up into Piper's blue eyes and smiled gently. "They won't affect my sobriety ok?" Alex said hoping to reassure Piper. Piper nodded and held tighter onto Alex's hand, "I could do with taking all of those" Alex said.

Piper frowned and shook her head "You can't have them all together Al, do you have all of the different symptoms that they are for?" she asked in a concerned voice. Alex nodded and continued to stroke her thumb across Piper's, "Ok, well which is the worst at the moment? We will have to alternate which medicine to give you" Piper said and looked at the mixture of medicines she had bought.

Alex was overcome with shock by Piper's innocent slip of "we", she knew Piper didn't even realise what she had said but to Alex it hit her in the chest. Her defences were low and having Piper there looking after her was too much for Alex to try and not let get to her, her usual need to keep herself and her feelings at a distance vanished as she watched Piper lift a bottle from the bedside table and begin to read the dosage requirement while still holding onto Alex's hand. Alex smiled and practically melted into her bed as Piper mumbled that it would be ok for Alex to have the cough medicine and powder drinks at the same time. "I'm going to go make this drink for you and grab a spoon, you get comfortable and if you use a tissue throw it in the bin Alex, do not sleep with it" Piper ordered then reluctantly let go of Alex's hand to walk to the kitchen. Alex watched Piper as she left the room, she knew Piper wouldn't be long has Alex still had her kitchen arranged the way that Piper had done it when they had first moved in. Alex had changed many things over the years in the apartment but some things she couldn't do like rearrange the kitchen cupboards, she had bought new plates, mugs and cutlery after Piper had left but still had them organised the way Piper liked as she always remembered how Piper had droned on about efficiency and placement has she had walked around the kitchen putting things away into cupboards. Alex smiled gently and pulled the duvet over her head as she remembered how after Piper had arranged their kitchen they had made love on the kitchen island for hours until neither of them could move.

Piper returned to the room with a luke warm cup of water and a spoon in her hands "Ah ah, no sleeping yet Alex" she said when she saw that Alex had the duvet over her head "First take your cough medicine then drink this" Piper ordered as she placed the cup and spoon on the bedside table beside the medicines she had brought. Piper pulled the duvet back making Alex groan in protest; she sat down on the bed beside Alex and reached out for the cough medicine and spoon. Piper carefully poured the liquid onto the spoon and offered it to Alex "Sit up and take this" Piper said, Alex slowly sat up from the bed and wrapped her mouth around the spoon that Piper was holding out. Piper watched as Alex slowly licked the excess medicine off of the spoon "Hmm strawberry" Alex moaned in appreciation unaware that Piper's heart was hammering in her chest with how sexy Alex had looked licking the spoon in her hand. Piper cleared her throat and looked at Alex with lust filled eyes "I know it's your favourite" Piper said.

Alex smiled and looked at Piper; she recognised the signs of an aroused Piper immediately. "Thanks" Alex said in a husky voice and laid back down on the bed, she wanted to reach out and hold Piper's hand again but knew if she did that Piper was likely to break and try something more with the way she was looking at her and Alex didn't have the strength to either stop Piper or to go along with whatever Piper would try.

"No problem" Piper replied then placed the spoon beside the cough syrup bottle, the blonde picked up the cup she had brought in and held it out, "One more thing then you can go back to sleep" Piper promised. Alex sluggishly sat up and took the cup from Piper, she sipped at the drink for a few minutes under the watchful eye of Piper then handed the cup back. "Enough" Alex said, Piper nodded and put the cup down on the bedside table. Piper sighed and looked at Alex has the other woman laid down, "I have to go back to work" Piper said. Alex nodded in reply, Piper didn't want to leave Alex alone while she was ill, she wanted to make sure that Alex was kept warm and hydrated. "Where is your cell?" Piper asked, if she couldn't be there in person for Alex Piper was determined that she could at least be reached should Alex need her.

Alex pointed in the general direction that her cell was in and closed her eyes, her body was protesting against being awake for so long and all she wanted to do was fall asleep, preferably cuddled up in Piper's arms but Alex knew that wasn't going to happen. Alex opened her eyes when she felt her bed dip once again under Piper's weight, she watched Piper has the blonde frowned at the cell that was in her hands, Piper tensed for a second then began to type a code to access Alex's cell. Alex noticed the veiled shock in Piper's eyes when the code that she had typed in worked; Alex used the same code for everything she shortened it if she had to but the codes she used was always the same, their anniversary date. Piper looked up quickly at Alex with confused eyes and opened her mouth to speak, Alex shook her head and sighed "Another day" she said. Piper nodded then looked back down at Alex's cell, Alex watched as Piper typed on her cell and smiled when she heard Piper's phone beep and vibrate in her bag.

"I've text my cell and added my number to your contacts" Piper said "If you need anything or want anything fetching you call me ok? Even if it's just for more tissues". Alex nodded in reply and smiled. "Ok, well I better go. I'll come round after work to check on you".

"You don't have to do that Pipes" Alex said. Piper smiled widely as Alex spoke, she loved hearing Alex use her name, she had forgotten how hearing Alex say her name in her deep, smooth voice was such a turn on. "I want to" Piper replied while reaching out to push a strand of Alex's hair behind her ear that had fallen over her face. Alex inhaled deeply through her nose and squeezed her eyes tightly shut has Piper's fingers brushed against her cheek, "Do you have a spare key so I can get in later without having to wake you up?" Piper asked as she watched the reaction she was having on Alex. Alex opened her eyes and looked at Piper, she was transported back to how Piper had slammed the key to their New York apartment onto a table in Paris has she was packing her case to leave Alex. "Al" Piper said seeing that Alex was drifting away from her. Alex shook her head "There's my key by the front door, you can use that if you want" she replied. Piper smiled and stood up from the bed, she lifted the duvet up to Alex's chin and tucked it tightly around her "Do not have any more medicine till dinnertime and remember if you want anything…"

"Call you" Alex said with a soft chuckle, the last thing she had expected that morning was for Piper to show up at the apartment they had bought together with a bag full of medicines to make her feel better then say that she would come around after work and fetch anything Alex wanted with her. No, Alex hadn't expected that at all but she was extremely glad that it had happened; she hadn't had anyone look after her when she was sick for eight years and she liked not having to do things for herself when all she wanted to do was crash. "Go to work Piper, I'll probably sleep until you come back" Alex said.

Piper nodded while looking down at Alex who was clutching at the duvet around her chin, Piper smiled gently down at her ex, _Jesus, you're beautiful, _Piper thought as she gazed at Alex. "I'll see you later" Piper said and reached for her bag and slung the strap over her shoulder.

Alex yawned in reply and pulled the duvet over her head, "Bye Piper" Alex said from under the duvet earning a chuckle from Piper. Piper walked towards the bedroom door while looking over her shoulder at the lump under the duvet that was Alex then walked out of the bedroom. When Piper reached the front door she searched for Alex's house key and pocketed it, she walked over to a nearby photograph that was on the wall and stared at it. She frowned as the landscape seemed oddly familiar to her; it was a picture of a lone tree in a field with the sun setting in the back ground. Piper tilted her head to the side as she looked at the photograph, she couldn't figure out why the tree looked familiar, Piper shook her head then turned away from the photograph. Piper wanted to take a look around the apartment to see what else Alex had changed but didn't want to be too late back to the store has she knew Nichols would never let her live it down, with a sigh Piper reluctantly opened the front door and exited the home she had once lived in with Alex.

Later that evening after she had finished work Piper let herself into Alex's apartment, the place was quite which meant that Alex was still asleep in her room. Piper closed the apartment door behind her and put the house keys onto a table that was by the front door, Piper unfastened her coat and shrugged it off then hung it up on a hook that was attached to the wall beside the table she had just put the house keys on. Piper kicked off her shoes and dropped her bag to the floor making herself feel at home then began to walk around the apartment.

She had spent the day checking her cell constantly to see if Alex had text or called, she had seen the amusement in Nicky's eyes at lunch has she had checked then rechecked her cell to make sure it was working properly. Piper had felt like the day had dragged, all she had wanted to do was go home and be with Alex, she had had to shake her head of that thought as it popped into her mind and tell herself that it wasn't her home anymore no matter what she had said to Nicky about going home or how the place still felt inviting to her, it was Alex's home now and she needed to realise that.

She knew she was invading Alex's privacy but she needed to know what else had changed since she had left, she already knew that Alex had changed the hallway and bedroom and that she had changed the worktops, cabinets and appliances in the kitchen but not how they had arranged things, which had had Piper smiling happily has she had searched for a spoon and cup that morning. Piper walked into the living room and looked around, the couch had been changed to a white L shaped couch that was placed under the huge windows that made up one wall, the rug had been changed from a cream one to grey and the furniture was now all black gloss instead of oak. There was a huge 50" flat screen TV attached to the wall with a full wall unit around it that was packed with Blu-rays, the odd photograph and the latest in Blu-rays players and IPod docks. It seemed that Alex had gone all out in changing the room has it looked nothing like the soft, inviting living room they had decorated together which had been filled with photos of them together and numerous bookshelves packed to the brim with their favourite authors, it was all modern and pristine but it now looked more like a bachelorette pad and Piper didn't like it at all. Piper frowned and left the living room to look at how Alex had changed the other rooms, the guest bathroom had been changed and decorated in grey slate tiles with white flooring and white appliances, one of the guest bedrooms had been decorated similar to Alex's bedroom but instead of a black feature wall it was navy and the furniture was all black gloss. Piper huffed as she walked to the second guest bedroom and opened the door, she prepared herself for yet more black or white gloss furniture but was surprised when she walked into the room and found three walls made up of oak book cases that were filled with books. Piper smiled as she looked around the room, there was a brown leather couch placed in the middle of the room with a clear glass coffee table placed in front of it with a hanging lamp stood beside the couch. Alex had turned the room into a library and Piper loved it, it felt warm and homely even though there was hardly anything in the room but books, she could imagine Alex sat on the couch with a book and a cup of coffee losing herself to whatever adventure she was reading. It was Piper's favourite room in the entire apartment and she wanted to spend hours reading the spines of the books that surrounded her, with a sad smile Piper walked out of the library and closed the door behind her then walked towards Alex's bedroom.

When she reached Alex's room she opened the door and grimaced, "Jesus H Christ! It smells like something has died in here" Piper exclaimed as she was hit with the smell of sweat and illness. Piper heard a muffled groan from under the duvet and quickly walked over and pulled the blanket back, Piper's eyes widened when she saw that Alex was drenched with sweat, her hair was stuck to her head and dark patches of sweat covered her clothing. Piper threw the blankets off of Alex then walked over to the window and opened it to let in some fresh air, Alex groaned and rolled over in bed but didn't wake up as cold air hit her. Piper walked back over to Alex and knelt beside the bed "Fuck me, you look even worse than earlier" Piper murmured as she looked at Alex. Piper reached out and pushed back some of Alex's hair that was stuck to her forehead, "Jesus, you're burning up!" Piper exclaimed. Piper quickly stood up and looked at the medicine that she had brought that morning, she read the labels and found one that said it reduced fever and quickly unscrewed the cap as she knelt beside the bed again. "Alex!" Piper said loudly hoping to rouse the dark haired woman from her sleep, "Alex!" Piper yelled when she had no response but a soft groan from the other woman. Piper placed the bottle she had in her hand on the floor and reached out and shook Alex awake, "Al, baby I need you to wake up" Piper said in a panicked voice when Alex didn't respond to Piper shaking her. "Alex please baby, wake up!" Piper exclaimed loudly, Alex moaned and opened her eyes a crack to look at Piper.

"Why are you yelling?" Alex grumbled quietly. "Oh thank god!" Piper said with relief and lifted her hand to her chest "I thought you had passed out, I was really beginning to worry" Piper said her voice breaking as she spoke.

"No, asleep" Alex said making Piper laugh in relief. "Well next time try and not to seem so dead ok?" Piper said.

"Hmm" Alex replied and closed her eyes as sleep began to take over her again. "Al, I need you to take some of this" Piper said and held the bottle up that she had placed on the floor, Piper reached for the spoon that she had left on the bedside table that morning and poured the liquid out onto its surface. "Alex open your mouth and take this" Piper ordered and lifted the spoon up to Alex, without opening her eyes Alex opened her mouth and let Piper feed the medicine to her. Piper smiled as a small amount of the liquid dripped out of Alex's mouth before she could swallow it and landed on the pillow beneath her head, "That should help with your fever" Piper said which earned a small grunt from Alex. Piper looked at the state of Alex's clothes and bed and decided that she couldn't leave Alex sleeping in a pool of her own sweat.

Piper stood up and walked towards the en-suite and opened the door, she walked into the room and turned on the light. The bathroom was the same has it had been eight years ago which made Piper smile widely has it was the only thing that they had agreed on, everything else had been a compromise and battle of wills but they both picked out the bathroom together and Piper loved that Alex had kept it the same. Piper walked over to the large bath and ran her hand along its surface, she had countless memories of herself and Alex in that bath and each one brought a mischievous smile to Piper's face. Shaking her head of her sexual memories with Alex Piper reached out and plugged the bath and turned the hot and cold tap on, she walked out of the en-suite and towards Alex. "Al, I'm running a bath for you" Piper said as she sat beside Alex on the bed and stroked Alex's shoulder through her hoody.

"No" Alex protested and tried to turn and face away from Piper. Piper held Alex in place and smiled at the partially asleep Alex.

"Yes. You seriously need to bathe because you stink" Piper said, Alex weakly opened her eyes and glared at Piper. "Come on get up, it'll be run soon" Piper ordered as she tried to help Alex sit up on the bed.

Alex moaned in pain as Piper pulled on her arm and tried to pull away, "I can't Pipes, I hurt everywhere. I just want to sleep" Alex said sluggishly then flopped back down onto the bed.

Piper frowned at Alex then stood up from the bed and walked towards the en-suite; she turned off the taps and checked the temperature to make sure it was ok for Alex. She retrieved a clean towel and beaker from a cupboard under the sink and placed it on the back of the bath tub, Piper walked back into the bedroom and over to the bed "Come on Al, bath time" Piper said like she was talking to a child. She leaned down and took hold of Alex's limp arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, she lifted a protesting Alex off of the bed and helped the taller woman walk towards the en-suite.

"I said no, Piper" Alex said petulantly as she was practically dragged towards the bathroom.

"And I said yes, I'm going to help you. All you have to do is sit there and try and not fall asleep" Piper said as they entered the en-suite. Piper directed Alex towards the toilet and flipped the lid down, she sat Alex on the toilet seat and knelt in front of her when she was sure that Alex wasn't about to fall off of the toilet.

"I want to sleep" Alex grumbled while looking at Piper with blood shocked tired eyes.

"You can in twenty minutes top, I promise" Piper said and rubbed her hands reassuringly along Alex's thighs. Piper stood up when she realised that Alex wasn't going to respond and leaned towards the older woman "Lift your arms" Piper ordered and grabbed the hem of Alex's hoody. Alex did has she was told and lifted her arms as high as her depleted energy would let her, Piper pulled the hoody up and over Alex's head and threw the wet garment over her shoulder. She looked at Alex who was now bear chested and swallowed loudly; she thought that she would have another layer to take off of Alex which would give her more time to prepare herself for seeing Alex's naked chest. Piper tried not to stare at Alex's breasts but couldn't help the way her eyes were automatically drawn to the creamy, large orbs. Piper blinked rapidly trying to suppress the waves of desire that were coursing through her, her palms began to sweat and itch and she felt an overwhelming need to reach out and cup the weight of Alex's breasts in the palms of her hands. Piper looked at the floor and counted to ten to gain some control then knelt back on the floor, if seeing Alex's breasts created a reaction that was hard to control Piper knew the next step would have her tip over the edge completely. "I need you to lift your bum for a second so I can take off your bottoms" Piper said in a voice that was thick with lust and want, Piper glanced up at Alex's face and saw that the other woman looked like she was falling asleep and wasn't suffering like she was, "Al lift your ass up" Piper ordered loudly. Alex absently lifted her bum from the seat then quickly sat back down as Piper managed to drag her PJ bottoms over her ass, Piper inhaled deeply then began to pull the bottoms down Alex's long legs, _I can do this, _Piper thought has she reached Alex's thighs. She quickly pulled the bottoms down the rest of Alex's legs and let them pool to the floor in front of her, as she had expected Alex wasn't wearing anything underneath her PJ bottoms and now she was sat naked on the toilet seat with her eyes closed. Piper stood up from the floor and took a step away from Alex; she raked her eyes over Alex's naked form and felt arousal flood her panties. Alex was the only person that could make Piper literally flood with desire and Piper had to close her eyes and grit her teeth to try and stop the way her body was reacting to the other woman, _She is ill and in pain Piper, get a fucking grip!_ Piper internally screamed at herself. Piper opened her eyes and stepped towards Alex, she took Alex's arm and wrapped it around her shoulders again and walked her towards the bath tub.

"Piper, I'm cold" Alex complained as they walked to the tub, Piper could see the sweat breaking out on Alex's skin and frowned in concern.

"We'll have you in a nice warm bath in a second baby" Piper replied as they reached the bath tub, "I need you to climb in Alex" Piper said as they stood beside the tub.

Alex groaned and lifted her leg over the edge and into the bath, Piper held tightly onto the taller woman as Alex slowly climbed into the tub. When Alex was in the tub she sat down with a relieved sigh and went to lie down.

"Alex no!" Piper said "You need to sit up so I can wash your hair" she added. Piper watched Alex has she hung her head forward but sat up in the tub, Piper quickly unbuttoned her jeans before Alex fell asleep and pushed them to the floor. She stepped out of her jeans then climbed into the tub behind Alex and sat on the edge of the bath with her feet in the water. "Scoot back" Piper ordered and opened her legs so Alex could sit in between them, when Alex had scooted back Piper picked up the beaker that was by her side and reached down into the water and filled the container. "I'm going to wash your hair now" Piper warned Alex not wanting to shock the other woman by throwing water over her when she didn't expect it, Alex nodded in acknowledgment and leaned to the side and rested her temple on the side of Piper's knee. Piper poured the beaker of water over Alex hair and watched as the moisture ran through the dark locks and repeated the action again and again until Alex's hair was drenched. Piper put the beaker beside her and reached for Alex's shampoo, as with everything else in Alex's life the shampoo was different from what she had used when they had been in a relationship, Piper lifted the bottle to her nose and inhaled deeply the new scent smelled tropical and reminded Piper of their times spent in foreign countries where the sea was sparkling blue and the beaches were golden. Piper squirted a small amount into the palm of her hand and closed the bottle and placed it back where she had picked it up from, she gently began to massage the liquid into Alex's hair. Alex moaned in pleasure as Piper worked the liquid into a lather, "That feels so good" Alex said quietly making Piper smile and bite her lip as her panties flooded once again. _Thanks for that Alex, _Piper thought amusedly as she began to rinse the shampoo out of Alex's hair, Piper reached out and grabbed Alex's conditioner and poured a fair amount onto her fingers, she put the conditioner bottle down then split the creamy liquid in two so she had a small amount in each hand. Piper began to rake her fingers through Alex's locks making sure she spread the conditioner out evenly, she pushed Alex's hair aside over the front of her shoulder to start and wash Alex's back as she let the conditioner soak into Alex's locks, she abruptly stopped what she was doing when she caught sight of the tattoo that was on the back of Alex's neck. Piper pushed Alex's hair further aside so she could get a better look at the tattoo, Piper's face broke into a huge toothy grin as she gazed at the little yellow fish that was there, she raised her hand to the back of her own neck and stroked the matching tattoo that she had. Piper loved all of Alex's tattoos, she had spent an obscene amount of time tracing her fingers over the ink that covered Alex's body but when Alex had agreed to Piper's suggestion of getting matching tattoos of the yellow fish that she had seen on their first scuba diving trip Piper had been ecstatic and the little tattoo on the back of Alex's neck had become her favourite by far.

Piper stroked her forefinger over Alex's tattoo and smiled softly, she wanted to lean forward and kiss the yellow fish like she had used to when they were together but she was barely holding on her emotions and control with Alex leaning against her wet and naked, she knew that kissing the other woman but break her. Piper inhaled deeply then began the task of washing the conditioner out of Alex's hair, when she had finished washing Alex's hair Piper washed her body with her eyes averted and thinking of things that she found revolting, like Larry's feet, to try and take her mind off of the fact that she was currently washing down the hottest woman she had ever met. When she had finished Piper placed her hand on Alex's naked, wet shoulder and squeezed gently, the older woman had being oddly quite throughout her bath and Piper realised that she had drifted off sometime after she had started washing the shampoo out off her hair while leaning against Piper's knee.

"Alex, wake up. We're all done" Piper said and squeezed Alex's shoulder again.

"Piper?" Alex said and sat up in the bath.

"Yea it's me, it's time to get out of the bath Al" Piper replied, Alex suddenly stood up and climbed out of the tub without any help from Piper, she stood beside the bath and looked around her in a daze. Piper climbed off of the bath and picked up the towel then wrapped it around Alex's naked body, "Sit on the toilet again while I go and get you something to sleep in" Piper ordered and nudged Alex in the direction of the toilet.

Alex shook her head "I'm going to bed" she said but still let Piper direct her towards the toilet and sat down when she reached it.

"First you're going to sit here and dry off while I go and change your wet sheets, you can even sleep here if it'll make you stay" Piper said with a soft smile. Alex frowned but leaned back and closed her eyes as Piper walked out of the en-suite with a victorious smile on her face at having Alex stay where she was. Piper rushed around the apartment gathering clean bedding and sheets then walked back into Alex's bedroom and stripped the bed of the dirty sheets, she quickly remade the bed and fluffed up Alex's pillows. When she had finished making the bed Piper walked across the room and entered Alex's walk in closet, she searched the seemingly endless draws for some PJ bottoms and picked a fluffy hoody then headed towards the en-suite where she had left Alex.

Piper walked into the room to find Alex half hanging off of the toilet in her towel, she laughed then strode over to the older woman and kneeled in front of her while placing the clean clothes she had brought with her onto the floor. "Come on sleepyhead, let's get you dressed and in bed" when Piper said the word bed Alex's eyes sprung open and she tried to stand up from the toilet, "Whoa slow down Al, dressed then bed" Piper said with a small chuckle and helped Alex put on her clothes. Piper sighed with relief has Alex nakedness was covered; she helped Alex stand and walked out of the en-suite towards Alex's bed. When Alex lay down she pulled the duvet over her head and fell asleep instantly without saying a word to Piper, "You really must be feeling terrible to not talk to me" Piper said to the lump under the duvet. Piper gathered the dirty sheets she had stripped from the bed and headed into the bathroom and picked up the clothes and towel that she had left on the bathroom floor after seeing to Alex. She walked out of the en-suite through Alex's bedroom and headed towards the laundry room that was a room that came off of the kitchen, when she had put the laundry in and set the machine off Piper walked back to Alex's bedroom and pulled the duvet gently back so she could look at Alex, she sat on the edge of the bed softly trying not to wake Alex up. Alex was out for the count and didn't stir as Piper stroked her wet hair away from her face; Piper gazed adoringly at the sleeping Alex and ran her thumb across the older woman's cheek. "I have to go again but I'll be back in the morning" Piper promised to a sleeping Alex "I really don't want to leave you here alone" Piper added but she knew she had to has she had dinner plans with Larry and his parents that night. Piper leaned down and kissed Alex gently on her forehead, she lingered for a few seconds and enjoyed the feeling of Alex's skin on her lips, Piper squeezed her eyes closed and stood up the bed "I'll be here first thing" Piper said then reached out and covered Alex with the duvet. Piper stroked her hand over the duvet then turned and forced herself to leave the room, she hurriedly walked down the hallway and gathered her belongings and picked up Alex's set of house keys then opened the door. Piper hesitated at the open door and looked out into the hallway, she wanted to turn and go back to Alex and climb into bed beside her, she wanted to stay and make sure that Alex was ok through the night and make sure that she didn't burn a fever again. Making a decision between going home to her fiancé or staying with Alex, Piper stepped back into the apartment and closed the door, she reached into her bag and pulled out her cell, she flicked through her contacts until she reached Polly's and pressed the green button to call Polly and raised her cell to her ear, she listened as the call rang and waited for Polly to pick up the phone.

"Hey Pipes" Polly answered cheerily, "Hi Poll, look this isn't a social call I need a huge favour. One I know you aren't going to want to do but you will do it because I'm your best friend and you love me" Piper said. "Erm ok" Polly said confusedly, "I need you to cover my back with Larry and say that I'm staying at yours tonight if he asks you" Piper said quickly.

"What?!" Polly exclaimed from the other side of the call "Why do you want me to do that? Wait does this have something to do with Super Cunt? Piper are you sleeping with her?" Polly whispered.

"No I'm not Polly but yes this does have something to do with Alex, she's sick and not in a good way and I want to be here for her to make sure that she's ok" Piper replied as she shrugged off her coat and hung it back up.

"And why do you want to do that?" Polly asked suspiciously, "Because I do Poll, look are you going to cover for me or not?" Piper asked. Polly huffed "Yes I'll cover for you but you owe me an explanation Piper!" she said.

Piper grinned widely "Thank you! Poll I owe you big time!", "You really fucking do Piper! I am not being an accessory to you cheating on your fiancé ok?" Polly replied, "There will be no cheating Polly I promise, she's passed out so that won't be happening" Piper said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Jesus I can hear the disappointment in your voice Piper, keep it in your pants or would it be keep them in your pockets?" Polly asked making Piper laugh, "I'm going to go now but I'm going to tell Larry that you needed to talk about not being pregnant yet and so that's why I'm not going home".

"Whatever, I want a full explanation when I see you Pipes!" Polly said, "And you will, bye Polly" Piper said then hung up before Polly could reply. Piper texted Larry telling him she wouldn't be home that night and put her phone into her bag.

Piper walked into Alex's bedroom quietly and walked towards Alex's walk in closet to find a t-shirt for her to sleep in, when she had found a shirt she walked back into the bedroom and began to strip off her work clothes, she placed them neatly over a chair then pulled the t-shirt over her head. Piper walked over to the bed and pulled the duvet back on the side of the bed that was empty and climbed inside, she laid on her side so she was facing Alex's back and pulled the duvet up to her chest. Piper reached out under the duvet and caressed Alex's back, she felt Alex tense under her touch and pulled away realising that she had woken the other woman up. Alex pulled the duvet down and turned over on to her other side to face Piper with confusion clouding her green eyes, Piper smiled gently and raised her hand to cup Alex's cheek, Alex frowned at the blonde but didn't move away.

"I'm here" Piper said then laid on her back and spread her arm out invitingly to Alex. Alex sucked in a breath of air then relaxed; she scooted across the bed into Piper's open arms and laid her head on the blonde's shoulder. Piper wrapped her arm around Alex and turned her head so her lips were brushing against Alex's forehead, "I'm here" she said again as she felt Alex relax in her arms and slip back into a deep slumber.


	8. Chapter 8

Alex woke up with the unfamiliar weight of an arm flung across her waist and her legs tangled with someone else's, she had had many bed partners over the years but she never cuddled with them and they knew not to cuddle her, it was an intimacy that Alex didn't allow but with this bed partner Alex didn't mind the cuddling. Without opening her eyes she shuffled even closer to Piper, which should have being impossible as Piper was practically lying on top of Alex, and linked her fingers with the sleeping blonde's. A small smile spread across Alex's face as she laid in her bed surrounded by Piper and her scent, she had missed this more than anything, waking up tangled with the blonde and just lying there and enjoying the feeling of having that one person you don't mind breathing their morning breath in your face or using half of your pillow even though they have their own, lying next to you. Alex caressed her hand along Piper's arm that was around her waist and felt Piper twitch awake and snuggle closer to her. Piper placed her chin on Alex's shoulder, her mouth only centimetres away from Alex's ear and tightened her arm around Alex's waist.

"Morning" Piper whispered groggily into Alex's ear making the older woman shiver with pleasure has Piper's husky morning tone filled her ear canal. Alex bit her lower lip to stop a moan escaping her mouth as Piper breathed hot air into her ear.

"Morning" Alex replied while opening her eyes and turning her head to look at Piper.

Piper moved her head back across the pillow so she could look at Alex and beamed when she looked into sparkling, green eyes. Neither could describe the rightness they felt at waking up in each other's arms, it was a pleasure neither thought they would ever have again and to find themselves locked in each other's embrace was surreal.

"How are you feeling?" Piper asked and unlinked her fingers from Alex's, causing the older woman to frown, and placed her hand on Alex's forehead to check her temperature.

"Tired, achy." Alex said then sucked in a breath of air as Piper stroked her hand down Alex's face and along the length of her neck and rested her hand on Alex's collarbone.

"Well you still have a slight fever but not as bad as it was last night" Piper said, the blonde had set an alarm to wake her up every hour throughout the night so she could check on Alex and her temperature and had given the older woman medicine when she was allowed. Piper was exhausted but she didn't mind having hardly any sleep as she had got to wake up next to Alex each time.

Alex turned onto her side to face Piper and gazed at the woman lying next to her; she tentatively raised her hand from under the duvet and cupped Piper's cheek in the palm of her hand.

"You stayed" Alex stated as she stroked her thumb across Piper's cheekbone.

Piper closed her eyes at Alex's touch and raised her hand to cup Alex's elbow, she turned her head so her cheek pressed into Alex's palm and sighed with happiness at how unguarded Alex was being with her.

"You needed me" Piper said to which Alex arched a brow and shook her head.

"Ok, I needed to stay" Piper corrected herself "I couldn't leave you like that" she added.

"You left me before" Alex said and regretted it immediately when she saw the sparkle that had being in Piper's eyes disappear.

"That isn't fair" Piper stated and raised her hand to drag Alex's hand away from her face.

Alex sighed and linked her fingers with Piper's refusing to let go of Piper as she tried to tug away from Alex's grip.

"None of it was fair" Alex stated and looked sadly into Piper's eyes.

"So we're having our talk? Now?" Piper asked hoping they would finally get everything out in the open and take the next step, whatever that may be Piper was more than ready.

"No" Alex said disappointing Piper, "Now I'm going to go back to sleep because I feel shocking and you're going to get ready for work, we will have our talk Piper. We have a lot to talk about but we both need to be ready for it and right now I'm not at one hundred percent, you need to be patient with me" Alex said knowing that Piper would understand.

Piper snuggled her head into Alex's pillow and groaned, she looked at Alex and huffed "I have being waiting for this talk since the second I walked into your office and saw that you were my new boss; I'm not a patient person Al. So hurry the fuck up and get better because I have a lot of questions to ask you"

Alex chuckled which then turned into a coughing fit; Piper grinned and moved closer to Alex. Alex yawned in Piper's face making the blonde giggle, "Ok I can take a hint, go back to sleep. Some of us have work to go to" Piper said with a soft smile, her eyes dancing with happiness as she gazed at Alex.

"Hmm" Alex replied and tried to stifle another yawn while her eyes slowly closed as fatigue over took her body.

Piper lay beside Alex and watched as the dark haired woman quickly fell asleep, she studied the other woman's sleeping features and smiled adoringly, the blonde knew that she had crossed the line that Alex had drawn between them with looking after Alex and staying the night, she just hoped that once she was better Alex wouldn't rebuild her walls and push her away again. Reluctantly Piper slipped out of Alex's bed with a sigh and began to get ready for work. Realising she didn't have a change of clothes for work, Piper went in search of some underwear in Alex's walk in closet, she chose a pair of black, silk panties that when she put them on were a little big for her but she didn't mind as she didn't like the thought of going to work commando and knew that Alex wouldn't mind her using a pair of her panties.

Once she was dressed Piper walked into the en-suite and washed her face, she bent down and opened the cupboard under the sink looking for a spare toothbrush but came up empty, with a small smile Piper stood up and reached out for Alex's toothbrush.

The one thing Alex didn't like to do when they were together was share a toothbrush, no matter how many times Piper had explained that they swapped more germs kissing than sharing a toothbrush Alex still didn't like it and when Piper had had to use her toothbrush when the she had forgotten to pack her own on their travels Alex had gone out and bought dozens of spare toothbrushes that she would pack so Piper never had to use hers again. It was one of the things that Piper found weird about Alex but loved how quirky it made the older woman.

With a guilty giggle Piper began to brush her teeth while glancing over her shoulder to make sure Alex wouldn't sneak up on her and catch her.

When Piper had finished in the bathroom she walked back into the bedroom, as she walked towards the bed she noticed that, in her sleep, Alex had cuddled up to the pillow that Piper had been using. Piper smiled softly and approached the bed, as she did she glanced at the time and realised that she was running late for work. With a sigh Piper sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Alex's head.

"Baby, I have to leave now" Piper said as Alex opened her eyes "If you need anything call me ok? I'll come by after work".

Alex nodded in reply and closed her eyes; Piper grinned then leaned down and kissed Alex on her cheek. Alex reopened her eyes and stared in shock at the ease that Piper had kissed her, Piper smiled and stroked her fingers across Alex's right eyebrow trying to ease the shock that was evident on Alex's face.

"Go back to sleep, I'll call you on my lunch break" Piper said then stood up from the bed and looked down at Alex who was still staring at Piper. "You ok?" Piper asked becoming concerned with how Alex was just laid there staring at her.

"Yeah, sorry. You took me by surprise that's all" Alex admitted quietly.

Piper nodded "See you later" she said to which Alex smiled then closed her eyes to fall back to sleep.

Piper left Alex's bedroom quietly and shut the door behind her, as she shrugged on her coat at the front door she glanced at the nearby photograph and tried to place the tree in the field once again but still unable to figure out where she recognised it from Piper opened the front door and headed to work.

XXX

The next three days saw Piper fall into a routine with looking after Alex. Piper was unable to stay the night at Alex's apartment again has she couldn't find another excuse to give to Larry to stay out for another night, so instead she set her alarm earlier than usual on a morning and rushed to get ready so she could stop by Alex's before work with breakfast. If Alex was still asleep when she arrived, Piper would wake her up by stroking her hair and say good morning, Alex's eyes would flutter open and when she saw Piper sat beside her the dark haired woman would break into a smile that had Piper's heart leaping in her chest. Piper would hold up breakfast, which Alex refused with a shake of her head, and then Piper would climb beside Alex on the bed and eat what she had brought while Alex slept beside her. The blonde would check that Alex didn't have a temperature and helped Alex walk to the bathroom if she was too drained to do it by herself and waited as Alex went about her business in the en-suite.

At work Piper would agitatedly clock watch until five o'clock then she would order the women to hurry up and finish their evening clean up and prep, Nicky would smile amusedly at the blonde and on Wednesday evening she slyly asked how Alex was doing to which Piper replied that she was doing much better, Nicky had smirked at how easily Piper had slipped up that she had been looking after Alex while she was ill but didn't mock the taller blonde has she was glad that Alex finally had someone to look after her even if it was only temporary as far as Nicky could see.

When she had locked up the store after work Piper headed straight to Alex's apartment, she let herself in and rushed through the apartment to see Alex. She would once again climb beside Alex on the bed like she did in a morning and watch the other woman sleep for a few moments; she drank in the soft, vulnerable Alex beside her and would smile loving down at the dark haired woman. Piper would spend a couple of hours laid next to Alex on her laptop working while Alex slept, she would only wake Alex to ask if she wanted anything to eat which Alex would reject then sidle up to Piper and wrap her arm around the blonde then fall asleep again. When it was time to leave Piper would sigh sadly and kiss Alex goodnight on her cheek or forehead while being careful not to wake her up, she would hesitate by the bedroom door and look at the sleeping Alex laying on the bed, Piper had to internally fight with herself every night to turn away and walk out of the apartment and go home to Larry when all she wanted to do was curl up beside Alex in her big bed.

XXX

Friday morning Piper woke up before her alarm went off and stretched her arms above her head, she had hardly slept as she was nervous about the book release that was happening that night. With a yawn Piper absently reached out towards her night stand and fumbled around searching for her cell, since Alex had been sick Piper checked her cell regularly but Alex hadn't text her once which had bothered Piper immensely. With one eye closed and not expecting to see anything on her screen but e-mail notifications Piper checked to see if she had any texts, Piper shot up straight in bed when she saw she had one text from Alex. Piper quickly typed in her password and clicked on the text from Alex and read what Alex had sent her.

**Hey Pipes, no need to come around this morning I'm up and walking around, actually I'm vegged out on the couch watching Pretty Woman lol. Thanks for everything you've done for me the past few days****. Today's the big day, knock em dead kid I know you've worked hard on this event and I'm really proud of you. No need to come around after work, get some rest before you go back to the store tonight and good luck. A.**

Disappointment hit Piper has she sat in bed, her fingers hovered over her keypad not knowing how to reply. She had loved going round to see Alex in the mornings and waking her up and now that she had been told not to she felt lost, she knew the fact that Alex was watching chick flicks on the couch meant she was feeling better but Piper selfishly wanted Alex to still be ill so she could look after her. The blonde re-read the text and smiled when she read that Alex was proud of her, Piper bit her lower lip and began to type.

**Are you sure you're ok? I don't mind coming over I'm up anyway**

Piper waited for a few seconds, which felt more like hours, for a reply.

**I'm fine really, you concentrate on today. If I need anything I'll text you, I can't leave the house because you have my keys lol**

Piper giggled as she read the text but quickly stopped when Larry moaned in his sleep beside her. She scooted down the bed and began to type a reply.

**Since you don't want me to come over today I'll drop them off tomorrow, don't overdo things just because you're feeling better. I'll text you during the day to check on you, need to put my mind at ease x**

A huge smile spread across Piper's face when her cell beeped signalling a reply from Alex.

**Please, I don't intend to move off of the couch all day **** Now get some more sleep you have a busy day ahead of you x**

Piper bit her lower lip at seeing that Alex had finished her text with a kiss, she smiled happily down at her cell and typed a quick reply.

**Ok Boss :p x**

Piper hit send then changed the alarm on her cell to wake her in an hour and half, as much as Piper wanted to go and see Alex she wasn't going to turn down the opportunity of more sleep as she had a feeling that the book release wasn't going go as she had planned.

At 11 0'clock Friday night Piper stood in the café of New Chapter wanting to pull her hair out, there was only an hour left until they opened the doors for Carmen Matthews book release and the author had yet to arrive.

Piper had spent the day rushing around making sure everything was in place for the event, she had turned the All Sorts room into a make shift waiting/dressing room for Carmen, she had called the security firm that she had employed for the night to make sure they knew exactly what was expected of them and she had tried to calm the staff down who seemed to be bouncing around with excitement. Piper had had a stressful day and the closer it came to opening the doors to New Chapter the more stressed she became.

Piper checked her cell for the time and groaned, if Carmen didn't show soon they would be in trouble. Piper scrolled through her cell phone until she reached the contact of Carmen's agent and was about to press the call button when Taystee screeched from the front door.

"Chapman! She's here, a limo just pulled up out front. Oh sweet baby Jesus she looks fabulous" Taystee said and hurriedly pulled open the front door of the store.

Screams and the sound of flashing cameras filled the store as Taystee opened the door, Piper walked towards the entrance and abruptly stopped in her tracks when Carmen Matthews entered the store followed by a man who Piper recognised as the author's agent. Piper was awestruck by the stunning brunette standing in front of her; the author's portrait on the back of Carmen's books didn't do the woman justice. The woman was breath taking! With long black hair, sparkling brown eyes, clear olive skin and legs that seemed to go on for miles, Carmen Matthews was the polar opposite of Piper and the fact that Carmen was Alex's "friend" intimidated the hell out of the blonde.

Piper walked hesitantly towards Carmen, dressed in a pastel pink sweater and blue Levis with black chunky heels on her feet, Piper felt like a frumpy old housewife next to Carmen.

"Ms Matthews, I'm Piper Chapm…"

"Where is Alex?" Carmen asked rudely while looking around the store and interrupting Piper's introduction.

Piper raised her chin and pushed back her shoulders drawing herself to her full height and tried not to let Carmen see that she intimidated her.

"Unfortunately Alex is ill and won't b…"

"No!" Carmen yelled and brushed pass Piper knocking into the blonde's shoulder as she did.

"Where is my dressing room? I demand to be shown to it immediately!" Carmen ordered.

Nicky walked from behind the café counter and indicated the All Sorts room door, "It's right here your highness" she mocked and opened the door for the author.

Carmen entered the room with her agent and slammed the door shut with a loud bang and locked it behind her.

Nicky turned to look at Piper with wide eyes and burst out laughing "What the fuck was that?!" she asked.

Piper shrugged and rubbed at her shoulder where the author had bumped into her "She is so rude!" Piper stated and walked towards the café counter where the rest of the staff was waiting.

"Where is Alex?" Poussey mocked, mimicking the author's accent.

The women giggled together at Carmen's expense for a few minutes before Piper clapped her hands together and told her staff what she wanted them to do before they opened the door and began to let people in, she explained that the security staff outside were checking the tickets of the customers and was making sure that the journalists outside didn't try and enter the store. The women made sure that there were enough chairs for everyone and that Carmen had an unlimited supply of still, bottled water as she had requested to be close at hand.

At quarter to twelve Piper was startled by a knock on the store's front door.

"Miss Chapman we have a situation out here" Piper heard from the other side of the door.

Piper moaned and approached the entrance of the store, she had expected some trouble with people trying to get in without tickets but she was confused by how there could be a situation when they hadn't even opened the doors yet.

"There is no fucking situation!" Piper heard from a familiar voice "Now let me fucking past! I owe the god damn place".

Piper rushed to the door and yanked it open "Alex?" she said loudly wanting to be heard over the noise that was coming from the people and paparazzi outside.

"Piper! Tell these fucking morons to let me in!" Alex yelled while trying to walk past the security guards blocking her path.

"Let her through" Piper ordered brushing one of the guys aside and grabbed hold of Alex's hand and dragged her passed the security guards.

Hand in hand the duo entered New Chapter and closed the door quickly behind them, Piper didn't let go of Alex's hand as they stood in the store looking at each other with soft smiles on their faces. Piper raked her eyes over Alex and inhaled deeply through her nose and shook her head, she was extremely surprised to see the older woman at New Chapter and dressed in a black and blue corset with a black blazer over it, tight black leather trousers and black opened toed high heels on her feet, her dark hair flowing around her shoulders and her lips painted ruby red, Alex was dressed to kill and Piper wanted nothing more than to rip the clothes from Alex's body and ravish her on the spot. Piper licked her lips and swallowed loudly then looked up into Alex's green eyes with lust filled blue eyes, Piper blushed when she saw the smirk and arched eyebrow that Alex was wearing at her obvious appraisal. Alex cleared her throat and dropped Piper's hand when she saw the desire in the blonde's eyes, she knew that she and Piper had bonded over the past few days with Piper staying the night and looking after Alex but Alex had spent the day reasoning with herself that she still needed to keep the blonde at a distance to protect herself.

Piper frowned as Alex let go of her hand, "What are you doing here Alex? You're sick! You said you were going to bed when I text you earlier" Piper chastised the older woman.

"And I did" Alex replied "But then I was woken up by a fucking phone call from Carmen demanding that I come immediately or she was going to leave" Alex explained.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Piper asked loudly drawing the attention of the rest of the staff.

"Hey Vause! What the fuck are you doing here? I thought you were sick?" Nicky called out.

Alex looked over at her friend and smiled "I had no choice but to be here Nichols" Alex replied then turned to look at Piper.

"No I'm not fucking kidding you, she called me screaming down the phone" Alex whispered "I was going to tell her to go fuck herself but I know how hard you've worked organising this thing so here I am" Alex added.

Piper took a step towards Alex with a huge, grateful smile on her face "Thank you! If she had left I wouldn't have known what to have done" Piper admitted.

"No problem Pipes" Alex replied with a small smile.

"Though you could have warned me about how big of a bitch she is" Piper said.

Alex chuckled and shrugged "But I would have ruined the surprise for you".

Piper bit the tip of her tongue and snorted in laughter; Alex smirked at Piper's nerdy laugh and played with her glasses.

"I better go and try coax Carmen out of her room, this thing starts in less than five minutes" Alex said and took a step away from Piper.

Piper nodded and walked with Alex towards the All Sorts room door. Piper didn't want to leave Alex's side, she didn't want to let Alex go into the room and be with Carmen while she stood on the other side of the door alone. She stood next to Alex while the older woman knocked on the door and announced that she had arrived. The door was quickly flung open and Carmen rushed out into Alex's arms.

"Darling! I am so glad that you are here!" Carmen said loudly then grabbed the sides of Alex's face and pulled her into a kiss.

Piper's stomach dropped to the floor as she watched Carmen push her tongue into Alex's mouth, she took a hurried step away from the kissing women as rage and jealousy filled her with alarming speed, her chest heaved rapidly as she breathed in and out to try and gain control of her emotions. The blonde had never felt more devastated than watching Alex kiss another woman. Piper felt an overwhelming urge to yank Carmen away from Alex by her hair, she wanted to scratch the woman's eyes out with her nails and slap her round her face, Piper took a step towards Carmen with the intention of doing exactly that when Alex yanked Carmen's hands away from her face and stepped away from the olive skinned beauty.

"You didn't really give me a choice but to come Carmen!" Alex snapped and gently pushed Carmen away.

"Oh darling don't be like that, we haven't seen each other in three weeks. Surely you wanted to see me?" Carmen purred then stepped towards Alex, she pushed her body against Alex's while wrapping her arms around Alex's neck.

Piper gritted her teeth and counted to ten in her head. She had had a lot of competition when she was in a relationship with Alex, or at least that was what it had felt like when women threw themselves at her girlfriend, but after feeling intimidated by Carmen, then being pushed aside and then made to watch the author make out with her ex, Piper had had enough.

"If you don't mind letting go of Al, we open in less than five minutes and you have to get ready" Piper snapped her voice hard and cold as she spoke to the author.

Alex whipped her head around to look at Piper in surprise and smirked when Carmen actually listened to the blonde and dropped her arms from around Alex and stepped away. Carmen glared at Piper and stuck out her chin trying to intimidate Piper but the blonde wasn't having any of it, refusing to back down Piper pushed her shoulders back and glared back at the taller woman.

"And who are you to tell me what to do?" Carmen growled.

"I'm the manager of this store and the person who has spent weeks organising this event so it would run smoothly, now there is a podium over there" Piper said and pointed absently over her shoulder "You will stand there while people enter the store and greet them with a smile" Piper ordered "If you don't I will personally see to it that this event receives bad reviews, my fiancé is a journalist, and I will tell anyone who asks just what a demanding, egotistical bitch you are" Piper added with a sweet smile on her face.

Alex's mouth dropped open in shock; she looked at Piper then at Carmen and saw the olive skinned beauty breathing heavily in anger. Carmen opened her mouth then quickly closed it, she then spun on her heel and strode away from Alex and Piper into the All Sorts room and slammed the door shut behind her.

Alex sighed and shook her head "Really Pipes?" she said and arched a brow.

"What?" Piper asked innocently.

Alex grinned "You and your temper" she said.

Piper shrugged and grinned back "I don't have a temper" she replied.

Alex laughed and nodded "Right, of course you don't. I'm going to have to do some damage control, if you could try and not insult anyone else while I'm gone I'll be grateful" she said with a chuckle and followed after Carmen.

Piper watched Alex walk away with a sigh and turned around to head towards the entrance of the store, as she turned Piper came face to face with a smirking Nicky.

"That was…wow! You couldn't even hide how jealous you are" Nicky laughed.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Piper said with a shrug and brushed past Nicky.

Nicky shot her hand out and grabbed hold of Piper's bicep "Look Blondie I like you but I love Vause and I've being watching the two of you, I see the way you look at her and how you search for her when you walk into a room. You're not discreet, even a blind man could see how you feel about her but I'm warning you if you hurt her you'll have me to deal with. You feel me?"

Piper looked directly into Nicky's eyes and saw the truth behind Nicky's threat "I'm not going to hurt her Nichols" Piper said quietly "It's the last thing I want to do".

Nicky narrowed her eyes and searched Piper's face, seeing only honesty in her words Nicky nodded and let go of Piper's arm "Make sure you don't cos she won't admit it but she feels the same, you look at each other like the sun shines out of the other's ass. It would be nauseating if it wasn't so fucking good to see Vause genuinely smile for once. Now go open the fucking door, it's time to get this show on the road" Nicky ordered then walked towards the All Sorts room door and knocked.

Piper approached the entrance of the store and inhaled deeply she let the breath out and opened the door to begin letting people in. As Piper stood by the entrance welcoming people she saw Carmen flounce through the store to stand at the podium that Piper had ordered her to stand at, the blonde smiled triumphantly and continued to welcome the guests into the store.

Once all of the guests were seated in the café listening to Carmen read a chapter from her new book, Piper searched the café for Alex and found her stood at the back of the store. Piper walked towards Alex with a smile on her face, as she approached the older woman the smile on Piper's face slowly faded away and anger swiftly swept through her body. When the blonde reached Alex she stood in front of her and stared at the other woman.

"I did some damage control, luckily she wasn't too mad at you for calling her an egotistical bitch" Alex chuckled quietly.

"Hmm" Piper replied and continued to stare at Alex. The anger that rushed through Piper was now at such a high level she could feel her hands shaking from the force; Piper clenched her hands by her side then unclenched them to try and calm herself down.

"It took a whole two minutes to persuade her to come out of the room" Alex added smugly.

"Well you are **very** good at persuading people to do what you want, aren't you Alex?" Piper said coldly through clenched teeth.

Alex frowned at Piper's tone and shook her head in confusion "What?"

Piper took a few steps towards Alex so they were shoulder to shoulder then turned her head and leaned towards Alex so her lips were brushing against Alex's ear; Alex inhaled sharply and closed her eyes at the feel of Piper's lips on her skin. Piper noticed how Alex's breathing increased as she stood beside her, usually seeing the effect she had on the taller woman turned the blonde on but at that moment it pissed Piper off even more.

"Your lipstick is smudged" Piper stated then straightened and walked away.

"Fuck" Alex groaned and raised her hand to wipe her mouth.

For the next hour the event ran smoothly, Carmen interacted with her fans and signed the books that they purchased and smiled for photographs when her fans asked for them. The only problem that Piper had was that the author never let Alex out of her sight; Carmen wouldn't stop touching Alex or whispering in her ear. She introduced Alex to her fans as her lover and dragged Alex around the store with her. With each passing minute Piper's anger grew, jealousy was eating at her insides and she had to step out for some air more than once to stop herself from striding over to the author and bitch slapping her.

As the event came to a close Carmen finally let go of Alex and strode into the All Sorts room, Alex sighed with relief and slowly made her way across the store and sat at the café counter and watched Piper as she stood by the entrance of the store wishing everyone goodnight. She knew that Piper was angry at her because of the Carmen situation but Alex refused to feel guilty over it. Alex was dreading talking to the blonde, she had already witnessed Piper's jealous temper that night and she had been glad that it hadn't being directed at her but Alex knew that the next time she saw Piper's temper that it would be aimed at her and she was not eager for that to happen.

Alex huffed and closed her eyes then pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, her head was pounding and she felt drained after having Carmen drag her around the store, usually she would have objected to being man handled by the author but she still wasn't feeling too well and really just wanted to go home to bed.

"You're not looking too good there Boss, you ok?"

Alex opened her eyes and looked up into Lorna's concerned face; Alex slowly nodded her head and rubbed the back of her neck with her hand.

"I don't think you are, ya look like ya about to pass out" Lorna added.

As Lorna was speaking Nicky approached them from behind the café counter "Yea Vause you aint looking too fresh, you need to go home"

Alex was about to reply when she felt the presence of someone standing behind her.

"Nichols, lock up for me. I'm taking Vause home" Piper stated in a steely tone.

Alex turned around to look at Piper and shook her head "I'm fine really I can take a cab" she said knowing that if she was alone with Piper she would get the brunt of Piper's anger.

"I'm taking you home" Piper said then reached into her pockets and pulled out her set of keys to the store and threw them across the counter to Nicky.

"I never said I'd clo…" Nicky quickly trailed off when she saw the anger that was flashing in Piper's eyes "Never mind" she quickly added then looked sympathetically at Alex.

Piper spun on her heel and headed towards the front door, with a groan Alex stood up and followed the blonde out of the store. _Suck it up Vause, you knew this was coming,_ Alex thought as she walked behind Piper towards the blonde's car.

The tension in the car felt like it was suffocating Alex, she glanced nervously at Piper as the blonde drove and fidgeted nervously with her glasses. She noticed that Piper was gripping the steering wheel so tight her knuckles were white and heard the blonde grinding her teeth together. _Fuck she is really pissed! _Alex thought.

"You're mad" Alex said trying to ease some of the tension in the car.

Piper shook her head rapidly from side to side but didn't look at Alex "I'm not mad" she replied.

"Yeah you are, I can tell that you're mad" Alex responded "Just say what you have to say and th…"

"I'm not fucking mad!" Piper yelled angrily and slammed her hand on the steering wheel.

Alex pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows "Ok, I guess you're not mad" Alex said sarcastically.

Piper began to grumble under her breath while shaking her head; Alex heard the words "Fucking Carmen" and "Bitch" muttered from Piper's side of the car. For the rest of the journey home neither woman spoke a word, Piper didn't take her eyes off of the road and Alex sat wide eyed waiting for the moment when Piper would blow.

When they reached Alex's apartment duplex they climbed out of the car together and walked in silence through the lobby and into the waiting elevator, soft music played in the elevator as it rose to Alex's floor which somehow made the tension between the two women thicken. When the elevator arrived at Alex's floor they exited the cabin and walked side by side to Alex's front door, Piper pulled out Alex's house keys from her pocket and unlocked the door. Piper walked through the open door first with Alex hot on her heels; Alex strode down the hallway and entered her living room leaving Piper stood at the open front door. Alex sat down on the couch and raised her feet to rest them on the coffee table that was in front of the couch, after a few seconds a loud bang echoed down the hallway from Piper slamming the front door shut. _Here we go, _Alex thought and inhaled deeply trying to prepare herself for the confrontation she knew was about to happen.

Piper strode into the living room then began to pace up and down in front of the coffee table, she stopped for a second to glare at Alex then began pacing again.

"You seem mad" Alex stated.

Piper stopped pacing and whirled around to face Alex, "Mad! Fucking mad Alex?!" Piper yelled "I'm more than mad! What the actual fuck!"

Alex raised her eyebrows and shrugged in reply.

"She was all fucking over you! "My lover"" Piper mimicked and threw her hands up in the air "Fuck no! Who even says that? Never mind introduces someone like that" Piper yelled.

"And you!" Piper pointed at Alex and glared at the dark haired woman "You didn't stop her! You followed her around like a fucking puppy all night! God! I thought she was going to mount you at one point!" Piper shouted and began pacing again.

Alex watched as Piper walked left then right and back again, she could see different emotions flash across Piper's face and not one of them was positive.

"She was kissing you and you let her!" Piper cried out then stopped pacing and faced Alex with a frown on her face "You let her" Piper repeated.

Alex raised her chin defiantly "Why wouldn't I? I'm single Piper, I can kiss who I want" Alex stated and watched as Piper's mouth dropped open.

Piper opened and closed her mouth trying to think of a reply, she knew that what Alex was saying was right but she couldn't help but feel like the other woman had betrayed her in some way.

The blonde tightly clenched her jaw and flared her nostrils, she shook her head and stared at Alex "Fuck you" she said then turned and walked out of the living room.

Alex sighed and pushed her glasses on top of her head, she was about to stand up and go after Piper to stop her from leaving when the blonde stormed back into the living room.

"Where the fuck do I recognise that tree from?" Piper asked.

Alex frowned in confusion and looked at Piper like she had lost her mind; Alex looked around the room for the tree that Piper was talking about and came to a blank when she realised that she didn't own any plants.

"The one in the photograph by the front door" Piper added realising that Alex didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

At Piper's explanation Alex felt her energy drain away, she licked the bottom row of her teeth while pulling her glasses off of the top of her head and placed them back on to her face.

"Well?" Piper demanded.

"Turkey" Alex answered.

Piper shrugged and frowned "Turkey?".

Alex nodded "Yeah, think back to our trip to Turkey" she said with a sigh.

Alex watched as Piper tilted her head to the side and thought back to their time in Turkey, she could literally see when the penny dropped for the blonde.

Piper walked slowly out of the living room and down the hallway until she reached the photograph of the lone tree in a field. Alex followed Piper and stood in the threshold of the living room and watched as the blonde stood in front of the photo and studied the picture.

"It was your day off and we rented a motorcycle" Piper said "You drove us around for miles looking for the perfect spot for us to have a picnic" Piper membered with a soft smile. "I honestly thought we would have to turn around and go back to the hotel" Piper chuckled, "But then we found this field, we ate under this tree" Piper said and pointed at the photograph. "You told me all about how hard it was for you growing up back home with just your Mom and having no money". Piper bit her lower lip and smiled happily at the memory of sitting under the tree listening to Alex open up to her for hours on end "It was the first time you really talked about your past and why you did what you did, I felt like I truly understood you after that picnic" Piper said then turned her head to the right to look at Alex.

Alex looked down at the floor and nodded, she remembered that day like it was yesterday. For the first time in her life she had let someone fully in, she had exposed herself to Piper under the tree and had fallen even more in love with the younger woman as Piper stroked her hair and encouraged her to tell her more.

Piper walked across the hallway to another photo, she stood and stared at the picture of a vine yard then burst into laughter "Greece" she said then recalled the memory of their time spent in the vineyards of a Greek Villa Alex had rented for them. Piper walked down the hallway and studied each photograph that lined the walls; every picture was of a place that held a happy memory of them together. To anyone visiting Alex's apartment the photos would look like any other landscape picture but Piper now knew that each one meant something to the woman that lived there. As Piper reached the end of the hallway and stood in front of the last photograph Alex walked back into the living room and left her to look at the photo.

Piper looked at the last picture and grinned, "Bali" she muttered and studied the picture of a waterfall.

Alex was sat on the couch with her head resting against the back of the couch when Piper walked into the living room.

"Why?" Piper asked.

Alex sighed and lifted her head from the couch to look at Piper and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Piper waved her hands around in front of her and looked at Alex "Why do you still live here? Why do you have photographs of places we travelled together yet don't have anything else of ours around here? Why do you use our anniversary date as your codes? Why?" Piper asked again her anger over Carmen long forgotten.

"This is my home" Alex said with a shrug "Yeah we chose this place together but this is my home, what because you left I should have?" Alex asked.

"No that's not what I…." Piper began to say but Alex interrupted her.

"This is the only place that felt like home" Alex said and looked around the room "After you left I couldn't stay here it was too full of you, your clothes, your smell, your books, everything was you so I moved out. I bought another place but I couldn't bring myself to sell this place. One day I woke up sober in my new apartment and I looked around me and thought fuck it! Why should I run away from my home just because you had left me? So I came back. I came back and I ripped out everything we had bought together, I made it a blank canvas. I redid everything! I made a total fucking mess in the process cos I was high as fuck at the time but I made it my own" Alex chuckled. "It wasn't until I got clean that I realised I missed having you around here and so I added the photographs, they helped me recover. When I felt sad and was itching for a hit I would stand in front of one of them and remember happier times. And has for using our anniversary date as a code…" Alex shrugged "It's the date that changed my life" Alex explained and looked at Piper.

Piper shook her head "How could getting clean make you realise you missed me?" she asked confused.

Alex pursed her lips and looked down at the coffee table "When I was on smack it was like you wasn't real, like none of it had even happened. Not you, not my Mom, nothing. I may as well have being on another fucking planet; I could have bumped into you on the street and not really known it was you. I took the drugs to forget and they really fucking worked but when I was sober everything came rushing back so I used more until I was hooked and well you know what happened then" Alex said.

Piper nodded and thought back to what Alex had said at her NA meeting, the blonde sighed and walked over to the couch and sat down on the edge next to Alex. She still couldn't get her head around the fact that Alex had nearly died because of using drugs, that she may have never seen Alex again.

"You turned to drugs and I turned to booze" Piper said then sat back on the couch.

Alex whipped her head around to look at Piper in shock "What?" she asked.

Piper nodded and sighed, she knew what had happened to Alex after she had left and she felt like it was only right that she confessed her own sins to the other woman.

"It took me 34 days to realise what I had done" Piper said with a shake of her head. "I came back to the States after I left and my life was so busy. I caught up with friends and my family, I got a job as a bar maid and found myself an apartment and moved in. I hadn't had a second to think since I arrived back home because I hadn't been alone for a single second, there was always someone there or I was on the phone to someone" Piper said with a shake of her head. "It wasn't until people left me alone on my first night in my new apartment that I had a chance to breath, I walked into my living room and I had a book case with no books on it. I remember standing there and thinking it's fine, once Alex comes home we'll have to buy another bookcase for all our books and then it hit me" Piper's voice broke as she spoke; she inhaled deeply and rolled her eyes to look at the ceiling as tears began to fill her eyes.

Alex held her breath as she watched Piper fight for control of her emotions, she didn't know if she wanted to hear what had happened to Piper after she had left. Alex had lived with an image of Piper skipping off into the sunset, free of the ball and chain that was Alex. She didn't know if she could handle knowing that Piper had hurt just has much as she had been by her leaving.

"You weren't joining me" Piper sobbed. "You weren't going to walk through the door in a couple of days like all the other times I had left before you. I had left you! I actually left you!" Piper cried. "I couldn't breathe" Piper said and tapped at her chest. The tears in Piper's eyes slipped over the edge and fell down her face.

"I tried to call you, I was going to beg you to forgive me and take me back but the number I called wasn't recognised then I remembered you changed your number every four weeks for safety reasons. So I wrote you an email but I couldn't send it" Piper said. "I sat there thinking about how I'd abandoned you on the day that your Mom had died and I couldn't send it, I knew! I knew you'd reject me and I didn't want to face that" Piper sobbed "I couldn't handle you rejecting me Alex so I deleted it, you were better off without me anyway right? I mean come on! What kind of person leaves the woman they love when they needed them the most? You deserved better so I didn't contact you. Instead I got very drunk, every night and even some days. Alcohol numbed the pain for a little while it also helped when I fucked random strangers to try and forget you" Piper said.

Alex sat and stared at Piper, she soaked in everything that the blonde was saying and couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I lost my apartment because I spent my rent money on booze then I lost my job because I turned up drunk to work, I ended up living back with my parents" Piper chuckled. "It wasn't until I met Larry nearly a year later that I turned my life around, he was safe and reliable. He picked me up and I became the nice white lady that I thought I was meant to be. I wrote us off as a phase, a post college adventure but I knew I was lying to myself. Over the years it's became easier to push you aside when you popped into my head and I got to a point of where I only thought about you once a week if not longer and life was easy. Then one day I walk into your office and suddenly you're in my life again and I can't pretend. I can't pretend that you were nothing more than a phase; I can't pretend that you didn't exist because every time I see you I want to kiss you!" Piper turned her head to look at Alex as she finished speaking and gazed into her green eyes.

Alex flared her nostrils and shook her head "You tried to call me?" she asked disbelievingly.

Piper nodded and wiped at her tear soaked cheeks.

"You stupid fucking idiot!" Alex growled and stood up from the couch to put some space between her and Piper.

Piper frowned in confusion at Alex.

"I would have forgiven you Piper! If you had sent that email I would have taken you back!" Alex yelled.

"What?" Piper asked in astonishment.

Alex raked her hands through her dark hair "Fuck!" she cried out. "None of this would have happened if you had only sent that fucking email!" Alex growled, "All I wanted was for you to walk through the door, to say that you had made a mistake and that you loved me! But you didn't, you never came back and now your sat here eight fucking years later telling me all of this and telling me that you want to kiss me while your fiancé, yes your **fiancé**! Is probably at home waiting for you! Fuck!" Alex said and took a step away from the couch.

"Alex" Piper said while standing up from the couch and took a step towards Alex.

Alex held up her hand to stop Piper approaching.

"You would have honestly taken me back?" Piper asked her voice mixed with disbelief and hope.

"Fuck yes! When you left you broke my fucking heart Piper but I would have taken you back in a second!" Alex replied.

Hearing Alex admit that she had broken her heart cut Piper to her core, she watched Alex as the older woman stood shaking her head.

"I don't have the energy for this" Alex sighed and walked back towards the couch and sat down, she was exhausted and she didn't know how to deal with everything that Piper had thrown at her.

"Things happened how they did and they can't be changed, we're different people now and we have different lives" Alex added and rubbed and her temples.

Piper noticed the crease in between Alex's eyebrows and realised that she had a headache; the blonde nodded and sat down next to Alex on the couch.

"Now what?" Piper asked.

Alex looked at Piper and shrugged "You should go home to your fiancé kid" she replied.

Piper shook her head determinedly; there was no way she was going to leave Alex after their night's confession. She couldn't face sleeping next to Larry after hearing that Alex would have taken her back, her life would have being so different than to what she had now and she knew that it would have being different in a good way.

"What now?" Piper asked again while gazing into Alex's eyes.

Alex shrugged and sighed "Now we sleep".


	9. Chapter 9

Piper was startled awake by something vibrating on her body, the blonde quickly sat up and looked dazedly around her. She remembered falling to sleep on Alex's couch with the older woman on the opposite side of her after their talk, but as she looked around she could see no sign of Alex. The vibrating that had woken Piper up buzzed on her leg again, Piper realised that it was her cell in her pocket that was vibrating with an incoming call; with a sigh she reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her phone. Polly's name flashed on the screen, Piper groaned then flopped back onto the couch and raised her arm to cover her eyes while clicking the connect button and lifting her phone to her ear.

"About fucking time! Where the hell are you? Or should I even ask?" Polly yelled down the phone.

Piper cleared her throat and closed her eyes as her friend's voice invaded her ear.

"And good morning to you too Poll" Piper said.

"Don't give me that shit Piper, answer my fucking question! I've had Larry on the phone all morning asking where you are!"

Piper huffed at the mention of her fiancé.

"You know where I am Polly" Piper replied.

"I can't believe you Piper! You said nothing was happening between the two of you and yet this is the second time this week that you've slept at hers!" Polly yelled.

Piper dropped her arm from her face and sat up on the couch.

"Hey! I wasn't lying to you Polly! Nothing has happened between me and Alex! Last night I drove her home and we talked then we fell asleep on the couch. That is it" Piper explained.

Polly scoffed on the other end of the phone "You expect me to believe that?" she asked.

"Yes I do!" Piper practically yelled.

"Whatever" Polly sighed "I covered for your ass again, I told Larry you finally agreed to give me a ticket to the book release then we went back to mine and crashed. I've told Pete to not say anything but I am not covering for you again Pipes!"

"Ok" Piper said.

"And your meeting me for lunch today" Polly ordered Piper "I want to know what the fuck is going on with these sleep overs with your ex".

Piper laughed at her friend and agreed to meet Polly in a couple of hours at their favourite deli then hung up the call.

Piper stood up from the couch and stretched while yawning loudly; she listened for any noise in the apartment but was only greeted with silence. _Where the hell is Alex? _She thought then went in search of the other woman. As Piper exited the living room and walked down the hallway she smiled at the photographs on the wall, even though she now knew the meaning behind the pictures she still missed seeing the walls lined with row after row of their books. As she continued to walk down the hallway Piper heard a clatter come from the kitchen, with a smile she quickened her step and headed towards the noise.

Alex was stood at the stove cooking breakfast with her back facing the doorway; she was flipping an omelette when she heard Piper's voice fill the kitchen.

"Hmm that smells delicious".

The dark haired woman couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face at hearing Piper's voice; her body reacted instantly to the soft morning tone of the younger woman.

Alex had woken up half an hour before Piper had entered the kitchen, she had sat for a few minutes looking down at Piper as she slept and recalled their conversation from a few hours before.

"…I tried to call you…"

"…beg you to take me back…"

"…every time I see you I want to kiss you…"

Were some of the words that raced through Alex's mind as she had gazed down at the blonde, she didn't know what would happen next between herself and Piper. The only thing that she did know for sure was that Piper had confused the hell out of her with her confession of wanting to go back to Alex after leaving her.

Alex glanced over her shoulder when she heard Piper sit down on a stool at the kitchen island.

"Hungry?" she asked.

Piper beamed at Alex and nodded her head yes, Alex turned back to face the stove and continued to cook the omelette until it was a light golden brown. When the omelette was cooked she reached into a cupboard beside the stove and pulled out two plates, she then cut the omelette into two and shared it between herself and Piper.

"You want coffee?" Alex asked with her back turned to Piper.

"Please" Piper replied.

Alex opened another cupboard and pulled out two mugs, she filled them with coffee then walked over to the kitchen island with the mugs and handed one to Piper then placed her mug beside the blonde. Alex walked back to the kitchen counter to pick up their breakfast plates and get them some forks when she heard a sad chuckle come from Piper, Alex frowned as she walked towards Piper and placed the blonde's breakfast in front of her.

"You know what's strange?" Piper said as she looked at the mug that she was holding.

Alex sat down on a stool next to Piper and shook her head.

"I expected you to pull out my Smith mug" Piper sighed "I still expect to find my things mingled with yours around the apartment even after all this time, it's just strange" Piper said with a chuckle.

Alex looked at Piper with her mouth open and blinked, she didn't know how to respond to the blonde so she just sat there and stared. Piper smiled at Alex and picked up her fork then dug into her half of the omelette.

"Wow when did you learn to cook?" Piper asked changing the topic.

Alex shook her head and let out a breath of air and relaxed in her seat.

"Red sent me on a cooking course for my 31st birthday; she went ballistic when I told her I ate out all the time because I couldn't cook". Alex laughed.

Piper giggled and pointed to the omelette with her fork.

"Well kudos this is a great omelette" she praised Alex.

Alex reached up to her glasses and fiddled with them bashfully; "Thanks" she said then began to eat her own half of the omelette.

The two women ate the rest of their breakfast in silence; they would occasionally glance sideways at the other and quickly look away when they were caught staring. When they had both finished their breakfast and coffee Piper turned in her seat to face Alex.

"A lot was said this morning" Piper stated.

Alex placed her fork quietly on to her plate and arched a brow, "You can say that again" she said.

"How are you feeling about it?" Piper asked needing to know how Alex was processing what she had said.

Alex chuckled and pushed her glasses on to the top of her head; she shrugged her shoulders then licked her bottom row of teeth.

"Honestly, I'm really fucking confused"

Piper nodded and placed her hands onto her knees, "I can understand that".

"I mean I have spent the last several years thinking you didn't give a second thought about me after you left and then you tell me that you wanted to come home, that you wanted me to take you back and I just…" Alex trailed off and shook her head. "It's confusing" she simply said.

"What? How the hell could you think I wouldn't think about you Alex?!" Piper exclaimed.

Alex shrugged and looked at Piper, "You just left, what else was I going to think? You didn't even look back when you walked out of the door Pipes"

Piper sighed and nodded "Well now you know".

"Yeah now I know" Alex repeated.

"What no.." Piper began to say but was interrupted by Alex.

"I don't know what now, I really don't ok?" Alex shook her head and reached up to pull her glasses off of her head. She pushed her glasses onto her face with a sigh and shrugged "I guess we carry on like we have being, nothing's changed. We now both know what's happened while we've being apart and it's good I guess to know, but you have a fiancé at home and I have my life. Nothing's changed" Alex stated while looking directly into Piper's blue eyes.

Alex knew that everything had changed between them, their talk had changed everything but Piper was still engaged to be married and would walk down the aisle in over a week's time. Alex needed time to think.

"That isn't true" Piper stated stubbornly, "You can't really think that things haven't changed because they have Al" she added.

Alex searched Piper's face wanting to find an explanation of what the next step between them was but as she studied the younger woman Piper's phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Alex looked down at Piper's pocket then back into the blonde's eyes and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" Alex asked.

Piper huffed and reached into her pocket "It's probably Polly again" she said then raised her phone to look at the name that was flashing on the screen.

Alex didn't need to be a genius to guess who was calling Piper, she watched as the blonde looked guiltily at her phone then back at Alex. Piper cleared her throat then lowered her cell to her lap as her phone continued to vibrate.

"You should answer the phone to your fiancé kid, he's probably worried about you" Alex said then stood up from the stool she was sat on and began to clear up their plates and mugs.

Piper frowned at Alex then silenced her phone, Alex walked towards the sink and began to rinse the things she had used to make breakfast then put them into the dishwasher.

"You need to go home Piper" Alex said with her back to Piper as she finished putting the last of the plates in the dishwasher then set it off and closed the door.

Piper shook her head slowly from side to side "Don't do this, don't push me away again" the blonde said softly.

Alex turned to look at the younger woman and sighed heavily when she saw tears swimming in Piper's eyes.

"I'm not pushing you away; you make it fucking impossibly to keep you at a distance. I just need some space to process ok?"

Piper nodded and stood up from her seat, as she stood up her phone began to vibrate in her pocket again. Piper groaned which made Alex smile.

"Guess I'll be heading out then" Piper said awkwardly as she stood in Alex's kitchen looking at the taller woman.

Alex sighed and walked across the kitchen towards Piper, when she reached the blonde she pulled Piper into a tight hug and buried her face into the blonde's hair. Piper was stunned by the sudden embrace from Alex but it only took a few seconds for the shock to wear off then Piper clung to Alex's shoulder blades like they were a life raft. Alex breathed in Piper's scent as she held the shorter woman, her heart swelled in her chest as she felt Piper's arms tighten around her. Neither woman wanted to let go, they wanted to stay where they were for as long as possible but once again they were interrupted by the buzzing of Piper's cell. Slowly Alex dropped her arms from around Piper then fiddled with her glasses and looked at the floor as she stepped away from the blonde.

"Walk me to the front door?" Piper asked wanting to spend as much time with Alex as she could, she didn't know why but she had a feeling that once she stepped out of Alex's apartment her life was going to change dramatically.

Alex nodded her head then side by side they both walked out of the kitchen and headed towards the front door of the apartment. When they reached the door Alex opened it and leaned against it, the two women stood by the open door staring at each other.

Piper sighed when Alex didn't say anything then pointed to the keys she had thrown on the table near the door, "I put your house keys there" she stated.

"Thank you and thanks for taking care of me, I erm… I liked it" Alex admitted shyly.

Piper grinned and nodded "My pleasure Al" she said.

Piper cleared her throat then went to walk out of the apartment when Alex stopped her.

"Hey, wait a second, I have something I need to give to you" Alex said then turned and walked down the hallway and into her bedroom.

Piper frowned as she stood by the open door, she had no idea what Alex would want to give to her and her curiosity was slowly killing her as the minutes ticked by. Piper was bouncing on the spot when Alex finally reappeared in the hallway, the taller woman quicker walked towards Piper with an apologetic smile on her face.

"Sorry, I couldn't find it but then I remembered I put it in a safe place" Alex chuckled at her own expense as in the past Alex had often lost things when she moved them to a "safe place".

Piper giggled and waited for Alex to reach her, when Alex stood in front of her she held out a key ring with a number 26 engraved on it, a single key dangled from the key ring. Piper furrowed her brow and slowly raised her hand to take the key ring from Alex, as she held it she studied the key in her hand but had no idea what the key was for. Piper looked up at Alex with questioning eyes.

"It's for a storage unit, when you left you left behind some important stuff like your college diplomas, your Gran's jewellery and a shit load of other things. I never thought you'd come back for them but I stored them just in case you sent someone for them" Alex explained.

Shock rocketed through Piper as Alex spoke, she had thought that Alex had thrown all of her belongings away and she had resigned herself to the fact but hearing that Alex had stored her things made Piper happier than she could have imagined.

"You did that for me?" Piper asked in disbelief.

"Don't sound so shocked kid" Alex replied.

Piper shook her head then looked back down at the key that was in her hand, she smiled softly then looked up into Alex's green eyes.

"The unit isn't far from here" Alex said as Piper looked at her, "You can go whenever you want it's up to you, there's no rush" Alex added.

Piper nodded and bit her lower lip as Alex talked, she was going to thank Alex when her phone vibrated again. Piper growled at being interrupted yet again, Alex smiled amusedly then opened the door a little wider for the blonde.

"Go on, I'll see you on Monday at work" Alex said.

Piper sighed then stepped through the open door; she turned and looked at Alex. Piper leaned towards Alex and softly placed her lips on the taller woman's cheek; she lingered for a second then pulled away from the other woman. Alex drew in a deep breathe then blinked slowly, she locked gazes with Piper and slightly parted her lips.

"Have a good day Al" Piper said then turned and headed home with the storage unit key in her hand as Alex leant on the door and watched her leave.

When Piper entered her home she expected to be bombarded with questions from Larry but as she walked through the house he didn't appear, Piper sighed with relief when she realised that Larry wasn't home. She didn't want to have to deal with her fiancé hassling her about staying out, she wanted to quickly take a shower then get ready to meet Polly for lunch which she knew was going to be hard work.

The next forty five minutes flew by for the blonde, Piper took a longer shower than she had originally planned has she had stood under the spray of water thinking about Alex and how nice it had been to wake up and have breakfast with her, then she had to rush around and do her hair then pick something out to wear. When she was ready for her lunch date with Polly she skipped down the staircase and headed to the front door, she picked up her bag and threw her house keys and the key to the storage unit inside, she then walked towards the front door and was nearly there when Larry opened it and walked through. Piper stopped in her tracks and internally groaned, Larry grinned widely when he saw Piper and quickly approached her.

"Pipes I've being trying to call you all morning" he said and went to kiss Piper.

Piper pushed gently at Larry's shoulder's and smiled tightly; Larry frowned as Piper avoided his kiss and stepped around him.

"Can't talk Larry, I have a dinner date with Polly" Piper said then opened the front door that Larry had just closed.

"You just left Polly's why are you going out to lunch with her?" Larry asked angrily.

"Because we are Larry, look I'm late I've gotta go" Piper said.

"Piper!" Larry called out as Piper left their home.

Piper sighed and turned around to look at Larry, she didn't want to be near the man. She was engaged to him and yet she wanted to get the hell out of their home and go talk to her best friend about her ex who Piper couldn't get out of her mind.

"Yeah?" Piper sighed.

"Has Alex said anything to you about a favour I asked her for?" Larry asked.

Piper tensed up and frowned at Larry, "You asked Alex for a favour?" she asked dangerously quite.

Larry nodded and smiled "Yeah, you sure she hasn't said anything to you?" he asked.

"No Larry" Piper snapped "Alex hasn't said anything to me about you asking for something from her" Piper added coldly. "Why the hell would you ask my ex for a favour?" Piper asked and took a step towards Larry.

Anger rolled through the blonde at hearing how Larry had the nerve to ask Alex for anything, she knew that her fiancé wasn't proud and didn't mind taking hand outs from others but it enraged Piper knowing that he would have turned to Alex for something.

"I asked her to hook me up with an interview with Carmen Matthews" Larry replied.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Piper yelled "You're un-fucking-believable! Why the hell would you do that? Jesus Larry! You have no limit do you" Piper said disgustingly.

"You ask my parents for money, you "forget" your wallet when we go out for drinks with Polly and Pete and now you're begging my ex-girlfriend for things? Hell no!" Piper said then turned and stormed out of the house that she shared with Larry and slammed the door shut behind her.

For the entire journey to the deli Piper cursed Larry under her breath, she drove like a maniac and punched at her horn anytime someone pissed her off, which everyone seemed to be doing. When she reached the deli she stormed out of her car and strode towards Polly who was waiting outside of the eatery for her.

"Look who it isn't, about fucking time too I've being waiting like ten minutes for you" Polly said as Piper reached her.

"Hmm" Piper said and flared her nostrils at her friends greeting.

"What's crawled up your ass?" Polly asked at Piper's response.

"Fucking Larry" Piper replied angrily.

"What could he have possibly done to piss you off? You're the one that's cheating" Polly said.

Piper widened her eyes and looked around hoping that no one had heard Polly say that she was cheating.

"I am not cheating on Larry, Polly!" Piper hissed.

Polly held up her hands and raised her eyebrows, "Ok, Ok. So what has he done?"

Piper gritted her teeth together and shook her head "He's asked Alex to get him an interview with Carmen Mathews" Piper answered.

Polly shaped her mouth into an O and tried to keep the amusement from her eyes but she failed miserably.

"You find that funny?" Piper asked as she opened the door to the deli and walked inside.

Polly quickly followed Piper and laughed "It sort of is, I mean Super Cunt isn't exactly the most approachable person on this planet and yet Larry had the balls to ask for something even though he knows she's your ex. He's ballsy".

"He's pathetic" Piper growled.

"Whoa there, what the hell Pipes? That's the man you're going to marry" Polly said.

Piper nodded and sighed "I know, it's just… Alex would never ask anyone for anything ya know? She'd go out and get it herself but Larry. Larry sits on his ass all day emailing Pete and expects thing to fall in his lap".

"So we're comparing them now?" Polly asked.

Piper frowned and looked at Polly as they joined the queue to order their food, "Come on Poll, even you have to admit that in the ambition department Alex has got Larry beat hands down".

"Ok fine she does" Polly agreed.

"Now what the hell is with the sleep overs?" Polly asked.

Piper had reached the front of the queue as Polly asked her question; she gave her order then turned to look at Polly.

"Wait you ordered to take out, why are we taking out? I thought we we're having lunch together?" Polly asked confusedly.

"We are but we're going to a storage facility, we can eat on our way there" Piper explained.

Polly frowned at Piper as she placed her own order.

"And I told you why I stayed at Al's Monday night Poll, she was really sick. She actually scared me; she had a terrible fever and wouldn't wake up when I tried to bathe her…"

Polly widened her eyes and shook her head at her best friend, "I'm sorry, you bathed her?" she asked "As in naked bathed her?"

"Well I'm not going to wash her with her clothes on Polly" Piper replied.

"And you think that washing your naked ex is ok?" Polly asked incredulously.

Piper shrugged "She needed a wash" she said as her only explanation.

Polly blinked rapidly then shook her head "Go on".

"And well last night we talked about the past then fell asleep on the couch" Piper said and reached out for their food orders that the checkout guy was handing to her.

"Bullshit! There has to be more to it than that! You just talked then fell asleep? Polly asked.

The duo walked out of the deli and headed towards Piper's car, "We'll take my car, I don't know if I'll be fetching anything back with me" Piper said as they walked.

"And seriously we talked and fell asleep, we may have argued, well I may have yelled at Alex for kissing Carmen Matthews but nothing else happened. We shared stuff about our past and it was emotionally exhausting then Alex curled up on the couch when we finished talking and fell sleep, so did I" Piper explained.

"Ahh you were a jealous bitch huh? God I remember how you used to get when you were together" Polly said.

"You haven't kissed or anything?" Polly asked curiously.

Piper shook her head and opened the wrapper on her sandwich "No, we've come close once but we were interrupted by her friend. She avoided me afterwards" Piper said then bit into her sandwich.

"You said nothing had happened between you two" Polly said loudly while un-wrapping her own sandwich.

Piper swallowed and glared at her friend "And it didn't! Didn't you hear me say we were interrupted?" Piper asked.

"Whatever" Polly said as they reached Piper's car, "Why are we going to a storage unit anyway?" she asked as they climbed into Piper's car.

Piper turned on the engine and placed her sandwich in her lap; she pulled out into the traffic and leaned towards Polly. "Feed me" Piper ordered.

Polly picked up Piper's sandwich and raised it to her mouth so Piper could take a bite as she drove, "Thanks" Piper said after she had chewed and swallowed her food.

"We are going to the storage unit because Alex put my things there after I left, I want to go and have a look through them" Piper answered.

"She's stored your things for all this time?" Polly asked in shock.

Piper glanced at her friend with wide eyes and nodded "I know, crazy right?".

"It's actually sweet" Polly replied.

Piper drove to the storage facility in no time at all, Polly had fed the blonde as she drove and when they pulled into the facility they searched the numbers on the unit shutters for the one that was engraved on the key ring.

"What number was it again?" Polly asked as they drove through rows of storage units.

"26" Piper replied as she scanned the shutters around her.

"Oh! Over there is 23" Polly said and pointed to a shutter in a different lane.

Piper turned her car around and headed into the lane of units that were in their twenties.

"24, 25 and 26" Piper said as she approached the shutter that she needed.

The two women climbed out of Piper's car and brushed the crumbs from their laps, they walked towards the shutter with 26 written on it and stood outside of it.

"Are you going to open it?" Polly asked.

Piper looked at her friend and nodded; Piper opened her bag and rummaged around for the shutter key. When she found the key she walked over to the lock on the shutter and unlocked it, Piper pushed the shutter upwards then put the key back into her bag. Piper looked inside the unit and shook her head, dozens of boxes and suitcases littered the unit.

Piper walked inside to the nearest box and lifted the lid; inside there were piles of books. Piper picked a book up and read the title; she smiled softly as she remembered buying the book from a rundown store she and Alex had found in Brussels. Piper closed the box then walked to another box and opened the lid, she found a number of jewellery boxes inside, she rifled through the jewellery and found every piece of jewellery that Alex had bought her in the box, with a sad sigh Piper put the lid back on the box and decided to look through the gifts at a later time.

Polly and Piper spent over an hour in the unit rummaging through Piper's past, they found clothes, books, lotions, shoes and numerous photographs of Alex and Piper together. Piper was sat on the cold floor of the unit with a box between her legs holding a picture frame that had the glass smashed between her hands, the photograph underneath the glass had been slightly damaged with scratches but you could still see the smiling faces of Alex and Piper as they sat in Alex's Mom's house. Piper shook her head sadly as she gazed down at the picture; she remembered clearly when the photograph had been taken.

It was Diane's birthday and she and Alex had made the long journey back to Alex's home town, usually Diane visited Alex and Piper in New York but they had wanted to surprise the woman. Diane had always treated Piper like her own and had often asked Piper when she was going to finally get Alex to tie the knot and make Piper legally her daughter. Alex and Piper would laugh and brush Diane off but secretly Piper had always hoped that one day Alex would make her a part of her family, it was after one of Diane's usually questions about their future that the photograph had being taken. Alex and Piper had been sat in Diane's kitchen after eating birthday cake when she had hinted at Alex about buying Piper a ring, Alex had responded that she bought Piper enough fucking rings which had Piper bursting into laughter while wrapping her arms around Alex's neck. Diane had rushed for her camera as Piper had laughed in Alex's face and called her a tight ass, which Alex had replied with how Piper seemed to like her tight ass. They were still laughing when Diane had come back with the camera and ordered them to look at her, when Diane had taken the picture she had studied it with a loving smile while saying that she loved "her girls".

Piper put the frame back into the box that was between her legs and blinked to stop the tears that wanted to fall at the memory. Polly approached Piper carefully and watched the blonde breathe deeply, she had been watching Piper as picked up each item that was in the unit, she could see the emotions rush across Piper's face as she looked at her things. She saw the way that Piper's eyes sparkled when she looked at a photograph of her and Alex on their travels and she noticed how Piper stroked the title of a book because it held a memory for the blonde.

"You ok Pipes?" Polly asked quietly.

Piper nodded her head and looked up at Polly "I don't even know why she talks to me" she said.

Polly frowned at Piper in confusion "Who?" she asked.

"Alex" Piper muttered and picked up another photo from the box that was in between her legs.

Piper smiled down at the picture then put it back inside the box and placed the lid on top.

"Why wouldn't she talk to you? Because you left her?" Polly asked.

"No because of how I left her" Piper replied, "Fuck" Piper said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Polly asked.

Piper sighed and tapped on the lid of the box with her fingers, she debated whether to tell Polly how she had left Alex but then she looked around the unit and knew she had too. Alex had gone to a lot of trouble to store her things and Piper didn't deserve it after what she had done.

"I left her on the day that her Mom died" Piper said deciding to get straight to the point.

The blonde heard her friend gasp in shock and looked up to see Polly looking at her with disgust.

"You did what?" Polly asked.

Piper nodded slowly and swallowed, "I'd already ended things between us and I was looking for my passport when she got the call, she asked me not to leave but I did. I walked out".

"Oh my god Piper!" Polly said.

"And this morning when we talked she said that she would have still taken me back if I'd gone to her" Piper said brokenly.

"Then she's a better woman than me!" Polly said "I can't believe you'd do that Piper! I mean I don't like the woman but that is low!".

Piper nodded her head "I know" she said.

Piper sighed and looked at the floor "I fucked everything up Polly, I could have gone back to her and we would have still being together now" Piper said.

"Did you want to go back to her?" Polly asked.

Piper looked up at her friend.

"Or should I be asking **DO **you want to go back her?" Polly said.

Piper opened her mouth to reply then quickly closed it.

"Cos I've got to say Piper the way you've being acting shows that you still care about her. You look after her when she's ill and lie to Larry about it and you get jealous when she kisses a woman that isn't you. I've watched you go through these things and I haven't seen you smile like that in years!" Polly said "I can see the happiness in your eyes when you think about her; I've never seen that reaction from you with Larry. Larry is my friend and I knew him before you two met but even I was surprised when you ended up together! You talk about Larry and you come across as bored but then you talk about Alex and you light up a fucking room, you always have."

"What are you getting at?" Piper asked.

"Do you love Alex? Do you want to be with her?" Polly asked "Larry is a nice guy Piper but if you do love Alex, and I can't believe I'm saying this, you should be with her" Polly said.

"You called her Alex" Piper said.

Polly shrugged "Yeah well I get the feeling she's going to be around a lot and after what you've just told me about leaving her I think you're the asshole now"

Piper laughed and shook her head.

"So?" Polly asked.

"I never stopped loving her" Piper admitted "And if she asked I'd be with her straight away."

Polly nodded at Piper's confession, "Why wait for her to ask Piper? You usually go after what you want" Polly said.

Piper sat up straight on the floor and looked at Polly, her friend was right! Piper had never backed away from a challenge, she was just as stubborn as Alex when it came to getting what she wanted and Piper wanted Alex! She had wanted Alex since the second she had walked back into her life! With a fire burning in her eyes Piper smiled, she knew what the next step was for her and Alex!

Piper and Polly loaded Piper's car with a few boxes and a suitcase that contained some of Piper's clothes then locked the unit up, Piper dropped Polly off back at the deli, so she could get her car, and told her that she would see her in a couple of hours. As Piper drove to the house that she shared with Larry calmness enveloped her, she had decided on what she had to do and now felt like she was about to drop a dead weight from her life.

Piper parked outside of her house and climbed out of her care, with smooth even steps she walked to the front door of the house and opened it. She walked through the open door then closed it behind her; she stood in the small hallway of the house and looked around her. Hearing a door open from down the hall Piper looked up and watched Larry as he walked out of his office and approached her with a soft smile. Piper pushed back her shoulders and raised her chin; she slowly placed her house keys down on a table that was placed near the front door and then inhaled deeply, she looked Larry determinedly in the eye then spoke.

"We need to talk".

Alex was sat in her library staring out of the window thinking about Piper and what she had said during their talk, she couldn't get over the fact that Piper had wanted to go back to her. She had spent her entire day sat in her library thinking about the blonde and their past and how different her life would be if only Piper had sent that damn email. Alex sighed heavily and shook her head as she thought about how she would have taken Piper back in a heartbeat even though the blonde had broken her heart by leaving. What now? Piper had asked.

"What now?" Alex mumbled "What now?"

Alex didn't have a clue; she knew that the relationship had shifted between herself and Piper after having heard that Piper had suffered from their break up too. The only problem was that Alex didn't know what to do next. Alex was going over what had been said yet again when the doorbell chimed and startled her out of her thoughts, Alex frowned as the doorbell rang again and quickly stood up from the couch. She walked down the hallway to the door and opened it, she internally groaned when she saw Carmen stood on the other side of the door.

"Darling you left me last night" Carmen complained.

Alex sighed and stared at Carmen.

"Are you going to invite me in?" Carmen asked.

Alex opened the door for Carmen and let the other woman in, "What are you doing here Carmen?" Alex asked as Carmen walked down the hallway and stopped in front of the door that led to Alex's bedroom.

"I have come for some fun darling" Carmen said as Alex shut the front door and walked towards her.

"I'm not in the mood Carmen, and I'm not fucking happy with how you dragged me around last night" Alex growled.

"Oh please I was doing you a favour by even being there, you should appreciate it. Now stop sulking and fuck me" Carmen ordered.

Alex stopped walking towards the other woman and frowned, one thing Alex didn't like was being ordered around by people and she wasn't in the mood to play nice.

"How's about you walk back out of the door I just let you through, I said I'm not in the mood for this shit!" Alex snapped.

Carmen raised her chin with a smug smile then reached behind her and unzipped her dress and let it pool at her feet, "Come on Alex, I know you like what you see" Carmen purred while standing in front of Alex in a red push up bra and thong.

Alex raked her eyes over Carmen's body and shook her head, usually when Carmen tempted her she played along but Alex couldn't get Piper out of her mind and Carmen was irritating her the more she talked.

"I said no" Alex said coldly.

Carmen glared at Alex and was about to rant at her when Alex's doorbell rang.

"Who the fuck can that be?" Alex said and turned to look at the door.

Alex turned back to face Carmen and saw that the other woman had made no attempt to put her dress back on, with a sigh Alex walked towards her and picked up her dress she grabbed hold of Carmen's arm and opened the door to her bedroom with her free hand.

"Stay in here, I'll only be a minute" Alex said as she shoved a half-naked Carmen into her bedroom then closed the door.

Alex huffed as the doorbell chimed again and hurriedly approached the door, she yanked the door open ready to tell who ever was on the other side to fuck off when Piper burst past her and into the hallway. Alex stood in shock with the door open as Piper paced up and down the hallway, after a few seconds of watching Piper pace Alex shut the door and took a few steps towards the blonde.

"Piper?" Alex said.

Piper stopped pacing and turned to look at Alex.

"I left him" Piper blurted out.

Alex frowned and shook her head in confusion.

"I left Larry" Piper explained.

Alex felt like she had the air ripped out of her lungs at Piper's words, she stumbled towards the wall in shock and leaned against it while Piper started to pace again. Alex's heart pounded in her chest, she felt like she couldn't catch a breath and felt like the room was spinning around her.

"I left him, I told him I didn't want to be with him anymore" Piper said as she paced, "I told him Alex! I told him that I want you, I told him that you had always being it for me and that I want to be with you!" Piper continued to pace as she talked and didn't notice Alex's stunned expression.

"Because I do want to be with you Alex" Piper said then stopped her pacing and looked Alex "And I know, I know you haven't gave me any indication that me can be anything more and I know that I've probably just ruined my life for nothing because it's being eight years and even though you said you would have taken me back then doesn't mean you will now" Piper rambled.

Alex couldn't respond to anything Piper was saying, she felt glued to the spot.

"And I'm not saying we should jump straight into a relationship because that would be crazy right? I want to do things differently this time around, I want to get to know you and know everything that has happened while we've being apart. I want us to learn each other's likes and dislikes again and do all of the things that people do when they are getting to know each other, because even though I do know you I also don't. You're still my Alex but you've also changed and I want to get to know the new things about you, this is the next step for us Alex. And I'm hoping, I'm really fucking hoping that you agree with me because I love you Alex" Piper said.

Alex blinked rapidly trying to understand everything that Piper had just said, _She's left Larry! She wants to try with me! She loves me! _Alex thought as she stared at the blonde. The two women stood in the hallway looking at each other, one in shock and the other nervously waiting for a reply. Piper was about to ask Alex to say something when the door to Alex's bedroom opened and a naked Carmen Matthews stepped out, Alex watched as the colour drained from Piper's face. She turned her head to see what the blonde was looking at and felt like she was going to vomit as Carmen stood there with a smirk on her face. Piper turned to look at Alex then stormed towards the front door and yanked it open then walked out of the apartment, Alex raised her hand and was about to shout after Piper when the blonde suddenly spun around on her heel and strode back into the hallway. Piper stormed over to Alex and stood inches away from her breathing heavily, Alex swallowed nervously when she saw the hurt and anger swimming in Piper's eyes.

Piper pointed towards Carmen but didn't take her eyes away from Alex's, "If that is what you want for the rest of your life, meaningless sex, you're going to miss out Alex. I am here and I am asking you to work with me towards a relationship. If you choose that" Piper said again and jabbed her finger in Carmen's direction "I will fight every second of everyday to change your mind because we are inevitable Alex, and you can't keep fighting the inevitable." Piper added then looked at Carmen with a look of utter contempt then turned and left Alex's apartment.

Alex stood leaning against wall with her mouth hanging open in astonishment, her hands were shaking by her sides and she felt tears pooling in her eyes at what Piper had said to her. She was brought out of her shock by Carmen laughing.

"What a drama queen" the author said.

Alex pushed away from the wall and glowered at the other woman "It's time for you to leave" Alex said then turned to look at the front door that Piper had just closed behind her.


	10. Chapter 10

Piper stormed out of Alex's apartment duplex cursing under her breath, she had just put herself out there for Alex and then left her with another woman. A naked woman! Piper shook the thought from her head and strode towards her car that was parked in front of Alex's duplex.

"Fucking Carmen and her nice tits" Piper muttered angrily.

Piper skidded to a halt when it finally dawned on her what she had done. _I've left her with another fucking woman! _Piper internally screamed. Piper stood beside her car for a second rooted to the spot by her idiocy, she had just vowed to fight for Alex no matter what and then left only minutes after.

"Fuck no!" Piper snapped then spun hastily around on her heel to storm back to Alex's apartment but was stopped in her tracks by Alex striding towards her with anger flashing in her green eyes.

Alex stopped a few paces away in front of Piper, her chest heaving with her rapid breathing. Piper watched has a storm raged in Alex's eyes, feeling unsure as to why the older woman was angry with her Piper took a quick step away from Alex.

"You can't do that!" Alex yelled.

Piper frowned in confusion has the taller woman's anger hit her.

"You can't walk into my life, say and do things to change everything I know and then walk away and make me watch you leave! You can't do that to me again! Alex said her voice breaking has she finished her rant.

Piper felt like the air had been ripped from her lungs; she looked into Alex's green eyes and saw that the anger that had been swirling in their depths was now replaced with a vulnerability the blonde had never seen from Alex before. Piper inhaled deeply and shook her head at Alex's distress, Alex opened her mouth ready to add to her tirade but Piper stopped her.

"I wasn't leaving you; I mean I was leaving but not you. I couldn't stay and watch you with her but I was just coming back in to… I don't know kick her ass or sit in your hallway so nothing could happen between you both" Piper chuckled as she walked closer to Alex.

Alex licked her lips and stared deeply into Piper's eyes.

"You were coming back?" she asked sceptically.

It was then that Piper realised the damage she had done to the taller woman with her leaving, she could hear the mistrust behind Alex's words and it hurt the blonde to know she had done that to Alex. She was the only one to blame for Alex doubting her and Piper knew she had a lot of work to do to make Alex see that she was serious about trying again. Piper filled her lungs with air and smiled softly at Alex while taking a step towards her.

"Yes I was coming back Al. I meant what I said upstairs, I want to be with you. I love you Alex, I never stopped. The only thing that has stopped me coming back to you before is thinking that you'd reject me but last night you said you would have taken me back and I'm really hoping that that still stands because I have gave up everything on the off chance that you will have me" As Piper spoke she moved closer to Alex so only inches were separating them.

Piper watched as Alex's eyes darted from side to side searching Piper's face for any signs of deception but Piper knew that Alex would find only truth in her eyes, as the two women stood on the side walk staring into each other's eyes neither one of them noticed Carmen marching out of Alex's apartment duplex, glaring at the duo before walking away from the building and out of Alex's life.

"Alex I need you to tell me what you want" Piper said "I need to know if you want to try again and work with me towards a relationship but if you do there can be no more special friends, I won't share you with anyone else. I want this, I want us! And I know I have no right asking for more, I mean fuck you haven't even hinted that we could be more and that is slightly worrying but like I said I will fight to change your mind because we are meant to be! I honestly believe that!"

As Piper talked her nerves began to get the better of her and she began to ramble but the fact that Alex was stood staring at her not saying a word bothered the blonde, she was beginning to think that she had messed up and judged everything wrong that Alex hadn't forgiven her for leaving her eight years ago and didn't feel anything towards her anymore.

"Have dinner with me tomorrow night, I want to take you out so we can talk and get to know each other again. We never dated the last time around but this time I want to take you out Alex, that's if you want to too. I mean do you? I don't know if you do and I'm starting to panic a little and I can feel sweat on my back cos I'm nervous, you're making me nervous Alex. Will you? Will you go out to dinner with me?" Piper rambled, her voice becoming shrill and louder as she talked.

Alex studied Piper as she talked and realised that she was being offered everything she had always wanted, she had tried to keep Piper at a distance because she was unavailable and had a fiancé and a part of Alex still mistrusted the blonde after everything she had been through with Piper. But as Piper talked about loving Alex and wanting to try again Alex's heart soared in her chest, Piper was offering herself on a silver platter and the only thing Alex had to do was swallow her mistrust and let her guards down. There were no more obstacles in the shape of Larry and Alex knew the ball was now firmly in her court, all she had to do was say yes.

"We can go anywhere you want…"

"Piper" Alex said quietly while tuning out what the blonde was saying.

"I'll book us a table somewhere or we can do something casual…"

"Piper" Alex said a little louder.

"But it's totally up to you, I'll pick you…"

"Piper!" Alex practically shouted.

Piper stopped her rambling and looked up at Alex with fear in her eyes thinking Alex was about to reject her.

"Shut the fuck up and kiss me" Alex ordered.

Piper's entire body sagged with relief at Alex's words, without a second thought the blonde closed the small distance between her and Alex and raised her hands to grab at Alex's face; she pulled Alex's head towards her own and smashed her lips against the taller woman's. The instant their lips connected Piper felt like a thousand bolts of electricity ran across her skin, the soft, fine hairs on her body raised and goose bumps scattered along her flesh. Piper could feel her heart thudding against her sternum as her lips moulded to Alex's, the kiss was hungry and desperate. Eight years of longing and want rushed through both women as their lips devoured each other; Alex raised her arms and threaded her fingers into Piper's silky blonde locks pulling Piper impossibly closer. Piper angled her head to the right so she could gain better access to Alex's lips; she pushed her lips against Alex's and used her mouth to part Alex's lip. Alex welcomed Piper's tongue with her own and the duo moaned as their hot, wet tongues caressed each other, their teeth clanked together as need took over their senses and the urge to dominate the other overcame them. The two women forgot that they were stood on a public sidewalk ravishing each other's mouth, nothing mattered to them but tasting the other and the rush of arousal that rocketed through their bodies. Alex unthreaded her hands from Piper's hair and dropped her hands to hold the blonde's hips; she pushed her hands under Piper's shirt and stroked her thumbs across the plains of Piper's stomach.

"Alex" Piper whimpered against the older woman's mouth as she felt Alex's caress on her skin.

Alex leaned back to look at Piper when she heard the small whimper that came from Piper's mouth, what she saw took her breath away. Piper's eyes were hooded and full of lust; her lips were plump and bruised from their searing kisses, her cheeks were flushed pink and her blonde hair was dishevelled from Alex threading her fingers into the locks. A small smile spread across Alex's face as she looked at Piper, her eyes softened and glistened brightly with love as she leaned towards Piper and gently placed her lips over the younger woman's. This kiss was slow and gentle, the urgency from before was dampened as Alex slowly explored Piper's mouth with her own. Alex wanted to show Piper through her kisses how she was feeling; she felt Piper relax her body into hers and wrapped her arms around the shorter woman's waist. Piper slid her arms around Alex's neck and sunk her fingers in to the dark hair at Alex's nape, with a little more force Alex kissed Piper causing the blonde to moan and tighten her fingers in Alex's hair. Hearing the blonde moan sent waves of arousal to Alex's core; she clenched her thighs and pushed her body against Piper's sending them tumbling back into Piper's car. Piper gasped at the contact and Alex took advantage and slid her tongue into the cavern of Piper's mouth. Their kisses turned desperate again as they grinded their hips into each other's, Alex's hands roamed aimlessly under Piper's shirt trying to feel as much bare skin as she could while Piper pulled at Alex's hair and bit on the taller woman's lower lip making Alex moan and Piper flood with desire. The need to touch and feel each other was unbearable; Alex reached for the hem of Piper's shirt ready to pull it over the blonde's head when they were disturbed by catcalls and whistles from a couple of men that were watching the two women from further down the sidewalk. Alex yanked her mouth away from Piper's and turned to scowl at the men that had disturbed them.

"Go play on a fucking freeway" Alex snarled in anger.

Seeing the rage in the raven haired beauties eyes the men quickly walked away leaving Piper and Alex alone once again. Alex turned back to face Piper, who was beaming at the older woman, and rested her forehead onto the blonde's.

"That was…" Alex began to say then trailed off.

"Intense" Piper stated with a slight shake of her head.

Piper had forgotten what it was like to be totally overcome with desire for another person; Alex was the only one that could make Piper feel like every cell in her body was on fire. Piper stared deeply into Alex's green eyes and smiled happily; Alex smirked back and slowly licked her lips.

"So is that a yes?" Piper asked quietly.

Alex frowned at the question and lifted her head up from resting against Piper's forehead; she arched a questioning brow at the blonde making Piper's smile falter for a second.

"Will you go on a date with me tomorrow night?" Piper asked nervously.

Alex face split into the biggest grin Piper had ever seen from the dark haired woman, her nervousness quickly evaporated when she saw Alex's smile.

"Maybe" Alex answered.

Piper snorted and giggled while pushing at Alex's shoulder.

"Be serious" Piper chastised with a smile.

Alex looked deeply into Piper's eyes, her green orbs swimming with a variety of emotions that Piper couldn't make out. Alex raised her hands and gently cupped Piper's jaw in the palms of her hands; she slowly dipped her head and captured Piper's lips in a soft kiss. Piper smiled into the kiss and caressed her hands along the length of Alex's arms and settled her hands on Alex's shoulders, when Alex leaned back she smiled at the blonde and arched a brow.

"Yes I'll go on a date with you Piper Chapman" Alex said quietly.

Piper bit on her lower lip as tears welled in her eyes with happiness at Alex's words, she had been ready to fight and convince Alex that they were right for each other but with how fast Alex had come around to the idea of them trying at a new relationship Piper was sure that Alex also knew that they were meant to be.

"Really?" Piper asked needing to make sure that Alex meant what she was saying.

Alex chuckled and nodded her head while dropping her hands to Piper's side and held onto the shorter woman's waist.

"Really, we have a lot of work ahead of us kid and it's not going to be easy. I have a few issues to resolve with how you ended things last time and it's going to take time but I'm willing to try" Alex admitted, "I want to try" she quickly added.

Piper nodded her head rapidly up and down in agreement.

"That's why we'll go slow, there's no rush right?" Piper said.

Alex smiled and nodded, she knew that her and Piper's version of slow was up for interpretation but if how she had nearly undressed Piper on a public side walk was anything to go by Alex knew that going slow wasn't really an option between them and Piper knew it too but they were both willing to try and that was all that mattered.

"Right" Alex agreed.

"I meant what I said though if we're doing this it's just us Alex. I've gave up my home and my stable, reliable relationship for this and before you say it I know you didn't ask me too but I did so it's just me and you ok? Can you agree to that?" Piper asked.

Alex frowned at Piper and shook her head; Piper felt her stomach drop at Alex's reaction thinking she was disagreeing to her terms of dating.

"What do you mean you gave up your home?" Alex asked in confusion.

Piper winced and nodded in the direction of the back window of her car, Alex looked the direction that Piper had indicated and saw that the back seat of Piper's car was full with her belongings. Alex whipped her head up to look at Piper, a frown creasing her brow as she stared at the blonde questioningly.

"I let Larry have the apartment, it was the right thing to do after breaking off our engagement" Piper explained.

Alex scoffed at this then quickly glanced at the back window of Piper's car.

"You're homeless because you chose me" Alex stated.

Piper could see guilt making its way into Alex's eyes; she didn't want Alex to feel responsible over something she had chosen to do and quickly tried to reassure Alex.

"No!" Piper stated "I'm going to stay at Polly's, I was on my way over there but I needed to come and tell you first what I had done and what I want. This is not your fault Alex I knew exactly what would happen when I ended things with Larry, even if you had said no to trying with me I'd still be in this situation cos I know what I want and Larry isn't it".

Alex smiled at Piper's admission and ran her hands up and down Piper's sides; Piper shuddered at the contact and bit her lip as Alex smirked knowingly.

"Do you need help moving your things?" Alex asked.

Piper shook her head.

"Pete is there and he'll carry most of the things while Polly and I go over what happened between me and Larry" Piper answered.

Alex nodded and pursed her lips wanting to ask what had happened when Piper had ended her relationship, but she bit her tongue and decided to wait for Piper to disclose the information herself. Piper could see that Alex was battling with herself not to ask Piper what had happened but the younger woman didn't want to get into it with Alex while they were standing outside.

"We'll talk about it on our date tomorrow ok?" Piper said beaming as she said the word date.

Alex chuckled at how over joyed Piper seemed to be about their upcoming date.

"I should go; Polly was expecting me to head straight over to hers so we could unpack before it gets dark" Piper said regretfully.

Alex sighed and squeezed once on Piper's hips then dropped her hands to her sides.

"If you decide you do need any help call me, I'll come straight over" Alex said and went to take a step away from Piper but before she could Piper reached out and grabbed the back of Alex's head and brought their mouths together.

Alex laughed as they kissed; she loved how Piper was taking charge. Alex had always been the instigator in their relationship while Piper rarely tried to dominate the older woman, but here Piper was once again taking control of things and Alex had never been more turned on. Alex and Piper continued to kiss for a couple of minutes until the need for oxygen got the better of them, the duo yanked away from each other and gasped for air while grinning like fools.

"God I've missed you" Piper admitted as she dropped her hands from Alex's head and down by her sides.

Alex smirked and took a step away from Piper.

"I can tell" she said smugly.

Piper shook her head and didn't let the fact that Alex hadn't said she had missed her too get to her.

"Get going kid" Alex said, "You have a busy night of unpacking and you need to get some beauty sleep too, you have a date tomorrow night".

Piper's eyes sparkled as she looked at Alex and bit the end of her tongue while giggling.

"I do have a date tomorrow" Piper chuckled

"I'll text you the details of our date later but you're right I need to go" Piper whined.

Alex shoved her hands into the front pockets of her jeans and looked at Piper in awe; Piper looked back at Alex with a slight frown wondering why Alex was looking at her that way.

"This is really happening" Alex said in wonder.

Alex had no idea that morning what would happen between Piper and herself and she had spent the day wracking her brain thinking of what the next step for them could be, she never thought that before nightfall Piper would have shown up on her doorstep declaring her love and asking for another chance. It seemed unreal to Alex but if she was being honest with herself she had never felt happier than she did right at that moment as she stood on the side walk outside of the duplex she had once lived in with Piper talking about how they were going on a date the next night.

"This is happening" Piper agreed with a smile.


End file.
